If anyone wants to know the history of the alleged killer, they would have to literally change skins with the alleged killer and walk in his shoes. His criminal history does not make him the person he is. This story portrays this young man as a smart kid gone wild. No one ever knows the criminal mind, unless they themselves have committed a crime. And even then, if one has committed a crime, they themselves cannot answer the question "why?". Sometimes it is a mistake. Sometimes it is of passion. Sometimes it is with intent. In this case, it appears to be an illegal opportunity that went terribly wrong. The killings do not appear to be intentional; but perhaps an intent to cause serious bodily injury that resulted in death. Or maybe a depraved indifference. But the murders do not appear to be premeditated. This man may have a ciminal history, but I doubt if people need to fear him as a murderer.

" doubt if people need to fear him as a murderer."

good logic there Yas. HE MURDERED 2 PEOPLE.

you are wrong.

wake up.

Yas Allulo: you point a gun at a person and then make the decision to pull the trigger, that is premeditated. I can only hope he is put to death the day after Mumia.

Tom nailed it: you are wrong. Wake up.

OK whatever. Clearly none of you have attended law school. Not all murders that are the result of an automatic weapon, are premeditated. Sometime I hate speaking to lay people. Intent must be proven beyind a reasonable doubt. I dont believe in the death penalty. And I also believe amongst other scholars that Pennsylvania death penalty statute is severely flawed. But that is a little to deep for you white trash

And honestly, it wasnt my family he killed. So I can technically care less. I was just giving some insight. I dont stay in boring Philadelphia or even more Pennsylvania for that matter. i can care less what you quakers are going through.

Okay, YAS ALLULO, which by the way his name is spelled Alullo ... in case you've missed the footage, it was clearly premeditated. As a friend of Joseph Alullo's daughter, who by the way read your comment, I think that you must be a very cold and unfeeling person to not have sympathy for their family or the Widmaier family. The patriarchs of their households were gunned down for no reason and their grief is immense. What kind of person are you that you have no compassion for their families? In regards to your first posting, who cares what the killer went through in his life that turned him into a murderer? He knew what he was doing, he knew the truck's routine, there is surveillence of him putting on gloves and waiting for them. He shot both men in the chest, clearly his intent was to kill them. He should be sent to prison for the rest of his life where I hope he gets beat up on a daily basis so that he'll wish he was given the death penalty instead.

And they are Catholics, not Quakers.

I think everyone needs to just calm down. All of the families are suffering. Yes, Yas...you are a little crazy. But to everyone else...it is not just the families of the slain victims that are suffering. Mustafa Ali's family is suffering as well. And for you to just say that you wish this man gets life in prison and hopefully will die...well guess what, his wife and family just read your comment too. And just as the daughter of the slain victim may have been offended by the comments psycho Yas has made...the family of Mustafa is also hurt by your comments. The family of Mustafa had nothing to do with this crime. They also lost a loved one. My thoughts and prayers go out to all the families. All families had innocent wives and children that they left behind. People we all need to just calm down. I dont wish bad on anyone. Everyone has suffered enough. I am speaking because I went through a similar situation...and let me tell you...it is rough on all parties. So while you sit here and say that Yas is cold hearted not to care about the slain victims families...what does that make you...not to care about Mustafa's family. I care about all the families. They were all innocent. God Bless everyone.

The previous post points out a very important point -- Ali aka Steele harmed so many people over a career in crime that started after he felt he could not take out a student loan?

The point indeed seems to be that Mustafa Ali is someone who feels as though other people, even his own family, or the family of hard working men, are simply less than his own need ot have a black Acura with an XM radio subscription (see the antennae).

Ali is a sociopath. He hurt everyone by not thinking for one second in a premediatated fashion of how much this would devastate dozens of lives.

Perhaps he has some brain damage in spite of his high IQ. Certainly, there is a component of his empathy that is malformed.

That's why judges and prosecutors have to be so careful who they make a bargain with. Steele/Ali got a plea bargain. But he really should have been put in a CEC or a Coleman house type halfway house with a lock down at night, with a long, long probation/parole with checks.

You have to watch such people if you let them out into the world, If the justice system isn't financed to do that, or able to do that, then Ali should have served at least half of the 147 possible years from his previous crimes.

While plenty of people are still paying off their student loans into their 30s or so, Ali thought he could be better than, exempted from, was an exception to, the rules.

This is classic in the criminal mindset, and it's predictive of the lack of insight that leads to a decision to commit a premeditated crime.

Oh, yeah, with the tape, the premeditation is established when he lovingly dons his gloves like he is going to race a car or go play golf in a tournament. Clearly, his whole body language says "it's good to be back."

Then without trying to just get the money, he shoots Widmeier in the chest at point blank range with a 9mm that he cocked like he was acting in a moving.

Oh, yeah. That's as premeditated as premeditated gets. As flawed as the death penalty may be in some cases, PA is no TX. No jury will fail to deliver this stone cold killer to the needle, no matter how smart. In fact, it will be because he is so smart.

Movie. Acting in a MOVIE. He's so smart that no jury will think him incapable of ethical reasoning or earning money like the rest of us.

Needle -- not a problem in this case.

Some people just want to have it easy, and they're willing to sacrifice everyone.

Julie Shaw really did an amazing piece of research alright. This guy was 3/4ths done with an engineering degree, and he didn't apply for financial aid? One more year and done? That just doesn't mesh with what I know about college financial aid.

Sure grants are great, but there are loans where the grants fall short. And why was he not eligible for a Pell Grant for four years?

The story of the "needed money to pay tuition" so he becomes the Drexel Jesse James just doesn't add up.

And in Philly, where getting mental health treatment is subsidized by the city, I find that it seems unlikely that he couldn't go find treatment for his depression at either the student health clinic or from a referral from a city health center.

If someone is so vain, so self-centered, that they won't get help, then yes, they are going to not be able to make it, and become a danger to themselves and others.

Does this guy have any functional family? Only the bank-robbing brother? Surely there were role models that got him as far as he went.

There's just no room for mercy in Ali's case. He deserves only the consideration he showed his victims.

PA may need to fund DNA testing for some death row inmates, but the question of guilt and premeditation in the Ali case is settled.

No wonder he wrote this long confession to try to establish involuntary manslaughter. He's smart enough to see that it's his best shot! He did this the day of his arrest!

Sure he's smart. He's premeditated this crime so far in advance that he's up to his legal strategy if he gets caught.

Shaw's article WAS good. It did show the deficits in the system. It's too awful to contemplate that this guy got such little time only by working his academic resume.

The legal system glossed over the facts that he really committed numerous felonies, and didn't ever deserve to have the chance to plea them all down into one seven year stint.

This guy was a habitual bank robber, a three strike felon in the 90s.

You know if this type of criminal gets the chance, they are going to "graduate" to murder.

These poor men who were killed deserved so much more from the legal system. My God, I hurt for the families. But Rendell and Corzine have both been giving speeches about early release or letting out "drug" offenders or other criminals?

Was Ali falling back into an addiction? It seems plausible.

And why on earth do retired police lost their health benefits after a certain time? That seems insane and disincentivizing.

Who will want to work as a beat cop if that's how they are treated? Having to work until they die -- it's wrong and unfair to people who are heroes.

Yeah, people who are depressed say ah, this is not who I really am, I clearly really do have some kind of imbalance that can maybe be treated. Smart people are thinking of how to get well, and this guy was smart. Yet he said, "oh, ya know, if I rob some banks with my brother, that'll solve things."

???

This guy was a killer in the making.

Is there any legal reason that this criminal, Mustafa Ali hasn't been seen since his arrest? Wasn't there a "manhunt" for him? Isn't it "normal" for a high profile suspect like this to be paraded before the media after capture? Is the reason for his absentia from the media due to his face being beat so severely that it cannot be shown? This is the reputation of the Philadelphia Police department, isn't it?

Charles: cut us a break. Go change the tin foil on your little hat.
Are you Yas's brother?

Hey anonymous! You must be a typical Philadelphian, hiding your identity. I stated what perhaps may prove to be a fact. We live in America or do we? I guess one good crime deserves a criminal response. All in the good name of emotional retribution--solidarity. You should have dictionary with you when you read this. I am sure you will have to use it.

Charles:
First,I also have wondered why Mustafa Ali, arrest photo have not been made pubically.
Secondly,It is very disturbing that the posted comments are so divided about individual FAMILIES lose.The families including ALI's family are deeply hurting, longing for their love one.
Thirdly, I PRAY for the families for that strength, love, forgiveness be their model for as they process their lose(s).
Lastly, I also pray that Ms. Steele, the mother of Mustafa Ali do not blame herself for the choices that her son has made in his life. It is obvious via bio prior to 1992. Ms. Steele had did a good job as a single parent.
God Bless us all,
Jay

Charles: Elvis is alive! Aliens built the pryamids! I have also stated what may prove to be facts.
How you got from an absence of pictures and no perp walk to police brutality is beyond me. And no, it is not the reputation of the Philadelphia police department.
Here's one for you...Ali is a killer.
Here's another..he is a repeat criminal offender.
Here's another...he thinks shooting three people to mitigate his tuition shortage is acceptable behavior.
Lastly, find the misspelled word so you can look it up in your dictionary.

Hey gang, great conversation all the way around. I just wanted to chip in two bits about why Mustafa hasn't been seen on video, or why his photo hasn't been released.

The official reason, per the PD, is that they don't want to release his photo until all of the potential witnesses are brought in and able to identify him. The thinking goes is that if you release his picture before you get all of your witnesses in -- and the Daily News puts his mug on the front page with a headline that reads, "Murderer Caught" -- you could potentially taint the witness pool.

I experienced this thinking for the first time last year, when Gary Skerski was murdered. The DN obtained a mug shot of his alleged killer, Solomon Montgomery, which we plastered on the front page with the headline, "Cop Killer." We caught a lot of heat for that move.

The natural counterpoint to this question is, of course, "But what about all the other mug shots that are released?" Circumstances vary, so it's possible that in some of those cases, witnesses were able to ID the doer before the pics were released.

It's a little maddening, I know, but that's the official PD line, for all of our inquiring minds. Hope it helps.

Hey John Q (very original--another Philthydelphia hiding). Either you are very young, have dementia or just plain stupid if you don't know about the many suits brought against the PPD. The news in your own city had a 14 page exposé on the "brutality-especially the Northwest Dectives! Again , my purpose is and was not to obscure that fact that this was a heinous crime that should be punished--but done so via the criminal injustice system (as it has turned out to be). Oops! He slipped just won't work anymore.

Charles: you got a logical explanation from David on what's going on with the picture. Yet you insist on pushing the police brutality theme. The absence of evidence to support your biased view doesn't deter you. You obviously, as an out of town person, have an agenda, why not just admit what it is so we can have an intelligent dialoge. Every big city police department has it's share of brutality suits filed. And the vast majority are dismissed. But don't let the facts obscure your argument.
I'm neither young, suffer from dementia or stupid. But judging from your constant use of name calling, I guess you have at least one of three covered on your end.

Charles- I know for a fact that this POS hasn't been roughed up. He was brought out for his prelim and has gotten legal counsel and no one has complained of Police Brutality. Does Police Brutality happen...rarely anymore. You cannot take the human element out of policing. As civilized as we pretend to be we arent. Do I wish he was tuned up...sure do. If a family member of yours-wife, kids, etc was hurt you wouldnt put your hands on the person responsible? If you want to be Mr. Liberal and say "that would lower me to his level" than you are bullshitting yourself. (Liberals dont take offense to that remark couldnt think of a better example so I used it)For example I remember this young 20 to 30 something white guy with dreads in his hair and living in N. Liberties very open minded (again liberal) guy get his bike stolen by a black crackhead. I saw him almost run the guy over get out and kick and punch him over a bike. After I pulled him off the crackhead I cuffed him and talked to him. I said if you drove by and saw me doing that you would have been the first one to yell "police brutality" and here you are kicking the shit out of the guy over a bike. Think real hard...ever lose your temper? Hit the kids? Hit the wife, girlfriend? Alot of "nice" guys do. The same nice guys who abhor violence.

Phillycop,

To answer your question simply, I have no problems with him being roughed up--severely. Believe it or not, IF he is actually the one responsible for the deaths of these innocent hard working family men, he should be swiftly punished. By that I mean, if the death penalty is the judgement on Tuesday, he should be history by Wednesday. The reason we have so much crime is the penalty is not executed as swiftly as the crime! My only point in mentioning the possibility of a "cop beat down" is the fact the his face has not be paraded as was his brutal attack. I have never seen anything like this before. They showed us the crime but not the criminal. Therefore, based on my own personal experience with the PPD, I felt that it was nothing more than a cover-up for a beating. Not that I care what happens to him, if there is no mistaken identity. It would have been at least acceptable if the media would have explained the reason for the anonymity. That would have dispelled any rumors by those who have an inherent distrust of the PPD. Just to make myself very clear, I do not sympathize with anything that a criminal such as the alleged perpetrator of this heinous crime has done. I truly support all law enforcement officials. Just as long as they operate within the scope of the policies and rules that we the people have set for them.

Hey "WHO CARES" -- I'm open to a free exchange of ideas here, but I don't tolerate mindless profanity or pointless attempts at being offensive. If you can't post on here in a civil manner, your posts will be deleted.

for those who care, the widows of the slain guards have both stated their sympathies for the family of the alleged murderer. It is public knowledge that they know that his family is suffering as well, so I would do some research before I post things

To Charles Walters-
Do you sleep better now knowing that this POS wasn't hurt??? What you see on TV and the movies with good cop/bad cop is just that...the movies. Were you ever the "victim" of Police brutality? Does it happen...sure...but not nearly as much or how you think it does. Until they issue the Police Star Trek phasers..you gotta break an egg to make an omettlete. Get out there and sign up for a ride-a-long..we'll throw a vest on you and you can get off the sideline and get your uniform dirty. If you are serious contact Dave and we'll make this happen. I'll let him know who Phillycop is.

Charles,
Do the ride-a-long with Phillycop so you can show him how to do his job "within the scope of the policies and rules that we the people have set for them".
What fucking planet r u from? Are the streets lined with gumdrops and candycanes....or blood like in Philly???

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