Philadelphia Homicide Detectives have now charged a fourth suspect in connection with the murder of Keith Palumbo, an Upper Darby musician and tattoo artist who disappeared back in early February and then turned up dead in a Philadelphia cemetery vault along with a second man.
Court records reviewed by Mobtalksitdown.com indicate that 46 year old Buck Evans was charged on July 17th with conspiracy, abuse of corpse, hindering prosecution and tampering with evidence in connection with Palumbo’s murder in February. Evans has a court appointed attorney and is being held in the Delaware County Jail on $500,000 bail.
Evans arrest comes a little over month after Donna Morelli of Southwest Philadelphia was charged with conspiracy, abuse of corpse and other criminal violations in the Palumbo murder case. Police sources say Morelli allegedly aided at least two others in dumping Palumbo’s body in a crypt at the Mt. Moriah Cemetery after he was shot to death in the Warlock MC club house at 70th and Woodland Avenue.
47 Year Old William Gibson, described by investigators as a prospect in the local Warlocks MC, was charged weeks ago with abuse of corpse, conspiracy, tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution. He’s currently being held in the Curran Fromhold Prison in Philadelphia on those charges.
The Evans, Morelli and Gibson arrests come in the wake of the arrest of 37 yr old Michael DeLuca, the alleged president of the Chester County Warlocks MC Chapter. He’s been charged with Palumbo’s murder.
Sources say the body of the 36 year old Palumbo was discovered April 3rd inside a cemetery vault at Mt. Moriah Cemetery off Kingsessing Avenue in Philadelphia. Philadelphia Homicide Detectives, Crime Scene Investigators and the city Fire Department’s Rescue 1 personnel had to roll back a slab to the vault to get to the body. Sources say Palumbo was shot in the head. Police say he disappeared on February 6th.
Police sources also say detectives discovered the body of a second murder victim which appears to have been there for some time. That unidentified individual had also been shot. Sources say the body may be that of another Warlocks MC prospect.
According to investigators, Deluca was arrested on April 12th by police in Wyoming. His Cadillac with tinted windows and Pennsylvania tags was stopped by local police. He was allegedly in possession of a gun. He was booked on local weapons charges and held on the Philadelphia Homicide warrant.
The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, ATF, has now adopted the gun case in Wyoming, where Deluca is still being held. Court records indicate DeLuca has a prior criminal record for allegedly shooting his then girlfriend in the head back in 2013.
Biker experts say DeLuca has been a member of the Warlocks MC for quite some time now. The Warlocks MC has chapters in Chester Co., Delaware Co. and Philadelphia.
A member of the Palumbo family told Mobtalksitdown.com recently that Keith Palumbo had no affiliation with the Warlocks MC.
Police have not revealed the motive for Palumbo’s murder, but are trying to determine if it is related to an earlier incident in the summer of July 2019. Sources say the murder weapon has not yet been recovered. Police are however testing several weapons recovered during the homicide investigation.
The Homicide probe is continuing and more charges are expected.
Detectives have not yet interviewed Deluca in Wyoming. There is no date scheduled for his return to Philadelphia due travel restrictions related to the Coronavirus crisis.
Stayed tuned to Mobtalksitdown.com for updates on this case.
