Upper Darby top cop Mike Chitwood has seen just about everything in a lifetime of fighting crime.
But he still wasn’t prepared for what officers found inside a home on Copley Street Monday night.
Chitwood described the brutality as “savage” and the crime scene as a “house of horrors.”
Cops don’t often think of themselves as having much in common with us ink-stained wretches in the media. But the truth is we find ourselves at many of the same scenes. They investigate crime; we report on it.
After a while, we both have a tendency to build up a fairly thick skin. It’s a bit of a defense mechanism.
But some times you just have to shake your head.
That’s about the only thing I can do when I contemplate the horror that unfolded Monday night inside the neat, quiet home on a residential street in Upper Darby.
Hoa Pham and his wife were getting ready for bed when their little piece of the American dream was turned into a nightmare. A heartless intruder disturbed their tranquility. He broke a front window, then confronted the couple in their upstairs bedroom.
What happened over the next few hours is unspeakable. They couple was savagely beaten again and again. The man wanted money. He got some. He wanted more. The couple didn’t have anything left to give.
Pham ended up giving his life. He died of injuries suffered in the ordeal. His wife was brutally assaulted.
A neighborhood, and in fact an entire community, is now reeling. The close-knit Vietnamese community is rallying around the family, and the church. Pham was a leader in the Vietnamese Catholic community and active in St. Alice’s Church, which ironically is located right next door.
Last night family members gathered there for a memorial. They will do so again tonight, and for the next several nights.
Chitwood has assigned 10 detectives to solving the case. Police have posted a $5,000 reward for information in the case. Anyone who believes they may have seen or heard anything Monday night is urged to call police at 610-734-7677.
Chitwood is confident police will find this savage killer. Restoring the void created by Pham’s death, and the feeling of unease that has settled over a community, will take a little longer.
But he still wasn’t prepared for what officers found inside a home on Copley Street Monday night.
Chitwood described the brutality as “savage” and the crime scene as a “house of horrors.”
Cops don’t often think of themselves as having much in common with us ink-stained wretches in the media. But the truth is we find ourselves at many of the same scenes. They investigate crime; we report on it.
After a while, we both have a tendency to build up a fairly thick skin. It’s a bit of a defense mechanism.
But some times you just have to shake your head.
That’s about the only thing I can do when I contemplate the horror that unfolded Monday night inside the neat, quiet home on a residential street in Upper Darby.
Hoa Pham and his wife were getting ready for bed when their little piece of the American dream was turned into a nightmare. A heartless intruder disturbed their tranquility. He broke a front window, then confronted the couple in their upstairs bedroom.
What happened over the next few hours is unspeakable. They couple was savagely beaten again and again. The man wanted money. He got some. He wanted more. The couple didn’t have anything left to give.
Pham ended up giving his life. He died of injuries suffered in the ordeal. His wife was brutally assaulted.
A neighborhood, and in fact an entire community, is now reeling. The close-knit Vietnamese community is rallying around the family, and the church. Pham was a leader in the Vietnamese Catholic community and active in St. Alice’s Church, which ironically is located right next door.
Last night family members gathered there for a memorial. They will do so again tonight, and for the next several nights.
Chitwood has assigned 10 detectives to solving the case. Police have posted a $5,000 reward for information in the case. Anyone who believes they may have seen or heard anything Monday night is urged to call police at 610-734-7677.
Chitwood is confident police will find this savage killer. Restoring the void created by Pham’s death, and the feeling of unease that has settled over a community, will take a little longer.
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