Guard: Two colleagues
at ATM never saw robber

By William Kenny
Times Staff Writer

Philadelphia authorities feel certain they know who shot and killed two Loomis armored truck guards during a holdup at a Northeast Philadelphia ATM on Oct. 4.
A homicide detective read the signed confession of the alleged gunman, Mustafa Ali, in a Center City courtroom last week.
But what remains a mystery in the aftermath of Ali’s Jan. 16 preliminary hearing is why he didn’t simply take the money and run, rather than opening fire on the guards apparently without provocation.
According to the testimony of a third guard who survived the onslaught, victims Joseph Alullo, 54, and William Widmaier, 65 — both retired Philadelphia police officers and lifelong friends — never saw the gunman before bullets started flying.
Joseph Walczak, 70, was sitting inside the armored vehicle as Alullo and Widmaier serviced the ATM outside of the Wachovia at 7345 Bustleton Ave. at about 8 a.m.
Walczak said he was watching the routine cash drop when the ambush began and a bullet crashed through a window in his truck.
"He was looking in the general area (of the machine) as part of his job when he saw the shots and heard the glass break at the same time," said Assistant District Attorney Michael Barry.
The shattered pane knocked Walczak to the floor of the truck, but in the commotion he saw a "black figure" in a black cap with a gun. He heard five or six shots in all, he said.
When the gunfire had subsided, Walczak looked up again and saw Alullo lying face down with his gun on the ground next to him and Widmaier lying on his back with eyes open.
"It was all blood," Walczak testified.
Widmaier suffered a wound to the chest. Alullo suffered three wounds to the chest and abdomen. Investigators don’t believe that they were able to return fire.
Neither guard was wearing body armor. Both died at the scene as the gunman fled with a bag of cash to a car he had parked nearby. Detectives later found the empty canvas bag behind a neighboring business.
In court, Walczak said he could not identify the shooter’s face.
For the purposes of the preliminary hearing, Barry linked Ali, 36, of the 3800 block of Woodhaven Road, to the crime by his own alleged statement to homicide detectives. The defendant made the confession upon his arrest one day after the shooting.
In it, he allegedly admitted to following the guards along their route that morning and watching them service another ATM at the Police and Fire Federal Credit Union, at Castor and Shelmire avenues.
Although not shown during the hearing, a surveillance video of the ambush previously released publicly by police would likely provide further prosecution evidence at trial. It shows how the gunman shot one of the guards, circled the truck, shot the second guard, then fired a round at Walczak. The entire episode lasted only seconds.
Ali claims he spoke to the guards before he started shooting.
"He said he went up and said, ‘Give me the money,’" Barry said.
Police released an edited version of the video in the hours after the crime in an attempt to generate leads on a suspect.
Investigators caught a break when a tipster reported that a car matching the description of the one used in the crime was parked at a Far Northeast apartment complex. The car had been covered in a tarp. Detectives traced it to Ali.
The suspect led authorities to the murder weapon, which he had buried at a cul-de-sac near Tomlinson Road, Barry said. Investigators found Ali’s gloves in a sewer and his clothing in a rubbish bin at his apartment complex.
Ali remains in custody without bail charged with two counts of murder, one count of attempted murder, robbery and related crimes. A trial date has not been set.
Ali, who was born Shawn Steele before changing his name legally for religious reasons, had worked for more than a year at a machinist shop in Trenton.
He previously served six years in federal prison following his 1993 conviction in a string of eight bank robberies.
Alullo and Widmaier worked as Philadelphia police officers assigned to the Northeast’s 7th district for a time before they both retired and moved to Bucks County. ••