Cops: Maintenance crew finds couple shot dead in Fairmount Park
It was unclear Friday how the two were killed, but murder-suicide was a likely contender.
WHEN THE three-man crew from the city's Department of Parks and Recreation drove up to the gazebo near Lemon Hill Drive in Fairmount Park yesterday, they were just trying to finish their workday.
It's a routine for them: Visit each trash can, pull out its bag.
What wasn't routine was the Toyota Sequoia with Arizona tags that was waiting for them, parked in the grassy area next to the gazebo. Or the grisly discovery inside the SUV: A man and a woman, both shot dead in the back seat.
"I was walking up to tell them to get off the grass," said one of the workers, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "Then, I saw the bodies inside and thought 'This s--t just got real.' "
About an hour after stumbling upon the SUV, the three workers sat nearby, watching as investigators pored over the vehicle. The trash bags they had pulled from the cans still sat on a picnic table, sequestered by crime-scene tape.
It's normally a quiet and crime-free area, a stone's throw from the Lemon Hill Mansion. Runners love it, and many cautiously walked by yesterday, worried by the throng of cops and reporters.
Police said the maintenance workers reported their discovery about 2:30 p.m., and that medics arrived to pronounce the couple dead 20 minutes later.
The victims both appeared to be in their 30s, according to Capt. Ray Convery, the commanding officer of the 9th District, who declined to identify them.
Both had been shot in the head and were in varying states of undress, Convery said. One of the workers told the Daily News the male victim was naked when they found him.
The nature of their deaths was unclear last night, though Convery said the violence didn't appear to be a random act. Police hadn't found the murder weapon as of last night.
One of the SUV's windows was shattered, and evidence at the scene indicated that it had been shot out from the inside.
Convery said the car was registered to the female victim. Despite the faraway license plate, she was a Philly resident, he added.
It was unclear how she was connected to the male victim. His family told investigators yesterday that he had been missing for about 24 hours, according to Convery.
As dusk fell on the park last night, officers from the Crime Scene Unit continued to inspect the SUV, which they planned to tow to the Medical Examiner's Office to complete their investigation.
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