Delaware County is a safer place today. Jermaine Burgess is no longer walking among us.
Unfortunately, that come as little comfort to the families of Hoa Pham and Marie Ott.
They will take solace in knowing police now believe they know who is responsible for their loved one’s heinous deaths.
Burgess was picked up on Saturday morning after DNA evidence gathered by Upper Darby police investigating the brutal home invasion that took the life of Pham linked him to the attack.
Police did not expect what happened next.
The horrific murder of Ott, whose body had been found in her home in the Derwood Park section of Ridley Township back in October, had been unsolved. Family members believed the trail was growing cold.
Enter Jermaine Burgess. Police in Upper Darby indicate that after he was taken into custody in the Pham killing, Burgess volunteered that he also was responsible for killing Ott. They contacted police in Ridley Township.
Yesterday Burgess was hauled into district court in Ridley and charged in Ott’s murder.
It is hard to fathom the brutality that went into these two home invasions and killings. In both instances, the victims were tied up and brutally attacked.
Upper Darby police Superintendent Mike Chitwood is not one to mince words when it comes to describing criminals. He’s famous for slapping the term “scumbag” on those who perpetrate crimes on his turf.
But even Chitwood was taken aback a bit by what happened inside the Pham house.
On Saturday, with Burgess in custody, Chitwood referred to him as an “animal.”
When you see what happened inside the Pham house, and just a few weeks before that to Marie Ott, it’s hard to argue with him.
Unfortunately, that come as little comfort to the families of Hoa Pham and Marie Ott.
They will take solace in knowing police now believe they know who is responsible for their loved one’s heinous deaths.
Burgess was picked up on Saturday morning after DNA evidence gathered by Upper Darby police investigating the brutal home invasion that took the life of Pham linked him to the attack.
Police did not expect what happened next.
The horrific murder of Ott, whose body had been found in her home in the Derwood Park section of Ridley Township back in October, had been unsolved. Family members believed the trail was growing cold.
Enter Jermaine Burgess. Police in Upper Darby indicate that after he was taken into custody in the Pham killing, Burgess volunteered that he also was responsible for killing Ott. They contacted police in Ridley Township.
Yesterday Burgess was hauled into district court in Ridley and charged in Ott’s murder.
It is hard to fathom the brutality that went into these two home invasions and killings. In both instances, the victims were tied up and brutally attacked.
Upper Darby police Superintendent Mike Chitwood is not one to mince words when it comes to describing criminals. He’s famous for slapping the term “scumbag” on those who perpetrate crimes on his turf.
But even Chitwood was taken aback a bit by what happened inside the Pham house.
On Saturday, with Burgess in custody, Chitwood referred to him as an “animal.”
When you see what happened inside the Pham house, and just a few weeks before that to Marie Ott, it’s hard to argue with him.
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