Woman found dead in lawyer's Center City condo

Police were investigating the death of a 26-year-old woman found Saturday in the bathroom of a Center City condo owned by high-profile criminal defense lawyer A. Charles Peruto Jr.

A maintenance worker found the woman unresponsive just after 10 a.m. in the building at South 20th Street and Delancey Place, said Officer Tanya Little, a Philadelphia police spokeswoman.

The woman, whose identity police did not immediately release, was pronounced dead shortly before 10:30.

A police source identified the woman as Julia Law. Law described herself as working for the Peruto firm as a paralegal, according to her profiles on Facebook and LinkedIn.

Law was found naked and face down in a bathtub full of water, a police source said.

Homicide detectives spent hours at the condo on Saturday gathering evidence and investigating the woman's death. Homicide investigates all deaths whose cause is not immediately known.

Peruto told police he was in Avalon, on the Jersey Shore, when the body was found, a source with knowledge of the investigation said.

The woman and Peruto had been dating, the source said. She also worked as a paralegal for the Peruto firm, the source added.

Peruto did not immediately respond to calls for comment.

Peruto has been involved in several high-profile cases, including the defense of alleged mobsters Joey Merlino and Nicodemo Scarfo. Peruto has won not-guilty verdicts in more than 200 jury trials and 2,500 non-jury trials, according to his website.