adminA beloved retired Philadelphia couple was strangled by two men – one they knew for decades – that they hired to do household chores, authorities said Monday. Rufus, 79, and Gladys Perry, 66, were killed by Terry Ballard, 26, and 19-year-old Justen Smith, over some money and a gold necklace, police said. The couple had known Ballard since he was a child.
“For it to be someone that they’re familiar with, someone that they knew, makes the pain even greater,” said Donald Carlton, the couple’s nephew.
The Perrys’ lifeless bodies were found early on Thursday by daughter Keya Perry in the stairwell of their rowhouse in the city’s Strawberry Mansion section. They had abrasions on their faces and necks, Homicide Capt. James Clark said.
“I got a call early this morning from my sister stating that she had seen on the news that dad had died and Gladys,” daughter Renee Ross told WCAU while fighting through tears. “It was really shocking to me.”
Police believe the couple let in the two men during the day on Wednesday to do odd jobs around their home.
Things went sour when Gladys Perry caught one of the suspect trying to take an envelope of cash he found in the kitchen. The envelope contained only $120, according to the Philadelphia Daily News.
He attacked and choked her to death, and her 79-year-old husband was strangled and smothered with a pillow while trying to save her, police said.
Neighbours later told investigators they had seen Ballard and another man in the victims’ backyard that day. Officers soon found the suspects and brought them in for questioning.
“They both admitted to their involvement in this brutal and senseless double murder,” Clark said. — AP
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