The District Attorney’s Office filed three counts of murder and related charges against Wissinoming’s Donald Tillman, 36, for the fatal shooting of his 33-year-old wife and for the fatal shootings of a couple in an apartment in Bustleton.
The murders took place on Jan. 20.
After allegedly killing his wife in their home on the 2000 block of Carver St., with their two children home, Tillman allegedly killed Mark Ruff, 59, and Nicole Newell, 43, in their apartment on the 9400 block of Roosevelt Blvd.
“We may never know what motivated Donald Tillman to commit the horrifically violent crimes we allege he committed over the course of one day last January. But we do know that prohibitions on the lawful purchase of firearms placed on him as a convicted felon were essentially worthless, and that Pennsylvania is flooded with deadly weapons that are too cheap and too easily accessible,” said District Attorney Larry Krasner. “A nation in which firearms are scarce, and there are meaningful barriers to access them is a nation in which lives are far better protected from the poor decision-making and impulses of bad actors. I want to thank Philadelphia Police Homicide detectives for never giving up on seeking justice for the three people forever lost to us and for the two young children forever traumatized by such wanton violence.”
Joanne Pescatore, assistant supervisor of the DA’s Homicide/Non-Fatal Shooting Unit, said, “Thanks to the investigative work of Philadelphia Police Homicide Unit detectives, the District Attorney’s Office will be prepared to hold Donald Tillman accountable for his crimes.” ••
