We use events and experiences in our own lives, pull them from a Santa sack of memories, and rework those memories for our own purposes. The victim, suspect and three witnesses were all convicted murderers. They are active throughout the Delaware Valley, including South Jersey and Wilmington, with Delco and Philly being their main stomping grounds. A brief, ill-advised interest in botany led, thorough a curious combination of circumstances, to my initial encounter with The Mudman. The three guys were there with her. Copyright 2023 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Pennsylvanias parole board chairman, Allen Castor, on Thursday called Simons release ``incomprehensible. He said the Warlock walked free under a state law that requires approval from two of the five parole board members or a board member and a hearing examiner. One of the more infamous was the late Robert "Mudman" Simon who killed a Franklin Township police sergeant in Franklinville, NJ, in 1995. Ambrose Harris, 68, died Tuesday at New Jersey State Prison in Trenton, the state Department of Corrections said. Ambrose Harris, 47, sentenced to death for . With a bit more hair and a little less ink, these might have been the limbs of a lowland gorilla. Delivery truck drivers and out of towners constantly became lost. Seems cool that some writers do come close to the people they write about ie: Ann Rule/Ted Bundy. The Judiciary Committee is investigating how Simon, a member of the Warlocks motorcycle gang, was able to win parole and move to Williamstown, N.J., a community known for Warlocks activity. The Warlocks Winchester MC facebook page which states, We are a nonprofit motorcycle club. We believe in taking care of our own. We love ridin our motorcycles fast and hangin with our brothers.Touch one ya touched us all They have 3,158 followers and had a food drive in November and a Harvest Party in October. Retired Trenton Deputy Police Chief Joe Constance, who led the team of detectives on the Huggins case, told NJ Advance Media Wednesday that Harris was the most evil person Ive encountered in the 32 years I was on the job.. In 1982, Simon was convicted for the 1974 second degree murder of his 19-year-old girlfriend, Beth Smith Dusenberg, who had refused to engage in group sex with him and other members of the Warlocks. Retired Trenton Deputy Police Chief Joe Constance, who led the team of detectives on the Huggins case, told NJ Advance Media Wednesday that Harris was the most evil person Ive encountered in the 32 years I was on the job.. Harris, already serving time for murder and rape, was found not . i went to bonner high school and was in every class with bob nauss he was layed back in the days, This site requires JavaScript to run correctly. Ippolito "Lee" Gonzalez of Franklin Township, Gloucester County, New Jersey pulled over Warlocks members Robert "Mudman" Simon and Charles Staples on a traffic stop moments after the two had committed a commercial burglary. OUT OF CONTROLJune 26, 2010. Fellow officers rushed to the scene a few hundred feet shy of police headquarters. There were also outlaw bikers, drug dealers, meth freaks, gamblers, loansharks, burglars and mob guys, as well as businessmen, cops and politicians with some very creative ideas regarding money, law and ethics. Simon was . I turned around. While in prison, authorities said Harris viciously beat inmate Robert "Mudman" Simon, 48, to death in a recreation area in 1999. Four years later, he was stomped to death by an inmate . All rights reserved, Police Asking for Public Assistance Finding Person Who Set Fire in Wilmington, Couple on Hawaii Honeymoon Says Snorkeling Tour Group Abandoned Them in the Ocean, Three Men Shot and Killed in Separate Shootings in Philly, Check Your Change! March 2 (UPI) -- A Minnesota police officer came to the rescue of a raccoon he spotted running around with a jar stuck over its head. Theres a FB group called, Pagan MC is a bunch of losers. Its a page dedicated to spreading awareness about the crime ridden motorcycle club called the Pagans. The page has 124 followers. The killing occurred 11 weeks after Simon's release from Graterford. Ippolito "Lee . He shoved me hard, knocking me onto the grass. The Mudman virtually shoved me out the door. He casually smashed his face into the brick wall on the side of the store. He murdered his girlfriend in 1974 and was released on parole in 1995. Ambrose Harris. At various points in his career as a hardened outlaw biker, Simon burned down a store on the Ocean City, New Jersey boardwalk and committed armed robbery. Some people light a fire with a 14k gold Dunhill lighter, others rub two sticks together; six of one, a half dozen of the other. He was an eyewitness to the 1999 slaying of Robert "Mudman" Simon, a Warlocks gang member convicted of killing a Franklin Township police officer. I been eyeballing you, pal, the raspy-voiced Mud said. I felt like a paratrooper that had left his chute behind in the plane and was now doggie paddling three thousand feet above sea level. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. The county political boss lived nearby, as did the avuncular anchorman of Philadelphias top-rated TV newscast and a once-famous 50s rock and roller. The 43-year-old Simon, whose criminal record began at age 8, was arrested in the 1974 murder of 19-year-old Beth Smith Dusenberg while he sat in prison for armed robbery. No, no and no. 'The key is whether any of this is true,' said Pennsylvania state Sen. Mike O'Pake. Harris was sentenced to death and sent to prison in 1994 for kidnapping, raping and killing 22-year-old Kristin Huggins. A request to interview Staples at South Woods State Prison, in Bridgeton where he is being held, was declined by the state Department of Corrections and a set of questions mailed to him was not answered. In any case, you work with what youve got, your own personal deep well, or strip mine, of source material. In that time the two were together, Simon couldn't get a job, ran out of unemployment benefits and was otherwise having no luck at acclimating to life beyond bars, according to Staples' letter. Earl Hamner had the gentle folk of the Blue Ridge. You bother my cousin here again, doofus, Im gonna throw your sorry ass in front of a trolley, get it?, Simon winked at me. Simon took a different route in his attempt to stay out of prison - murdering a policeman. Creatures made of animated mud or ooze by magical arts were first introduced into popular culture by several types of board games, mainly from the Dungeons & Dragons franchise. Yo-Yo glared at me, baring his teeth. By most accounts, Simon was a career criminal. Robert "Mudman" Simon, 48, was killed by Ambrose Harris, 46, in the recreation area of death row at the New Jersey State Prison in Trenton, officials said. Loved the look on the sociopath and real story of his death. Although the club was predominately based within their founding location of Philadelphia as well as other parts of Pennsylvania, they also maintained a chapter within New Jersey. Mr. Carr said, You boys arent fighting, are you?, No, Mr. Carr, I assured him as I stood, dusting myself off. I was in sixth grade. The property was owned by Marianne Mihalick, who lived with her daughter right across from Simon's trailer home at 3944 South Black Horse Pike. What the fuck are you doing? he demanded. Throughout his youth, Simon was a member of an Upper Darby street gang known as the Warlords. The Mudman Cometh Simon and Staples, both members of the Warlocks A lock ( Warlocks Book The Warlocks get a mention in the bookBiker Gangs and Transnational Organized Crime by Thomas Barker. However, he was acquitted on the grounds of self-defense. Christie Whitman has asked for a report on the parole bureaus role. Smart money was on the latter. Bobby and the guy returned to her dead. It wasnt the wall. He had formerly been sentenced to death by the state of New Jersey on May 6, 1995 for his part in the fatal shooting of Franklin Township police sergeant Ippolito Gonzalez. English. While in prison, authorities said Harris viciously beat inmate Robert "Mudman" Simon, 48, to death in a recreation area in 1999. The trial court "failed to put these matters to rest," and failed to "deal with these ambiguities" in Simon's answers. I might as well have been a child molester. [7] Simon was also suspected of murdering an inmate at State Correctional Institution Pittsburgh during his incarceration period. PHILADELPHIA (AP) _ Robert ``Mudman Simon showed no remorse the day a judge sentenced him for the murder of a girlfriend who had refused to have group sex with his motorcycle gang. (Amended Complaint at 91-94.) His lawyers argued self defense, and a jury acquitted him. Sludge Simmons has a fateful encounter with a 300,000-pound locomotive.A price is paid, as it should be. March 3 (UPI) -- A Massachusetts library said a book was recently returned with a note apologizing for the tome being 56 years overdue. Simon had either dropped out of or was expelled from high school. They were at a party in Jim Thorpe when Simon ordered her to have sex with other gang members. In Mudmans case, appropriately, that injury was a bit more substantial than a blown ACL. [15] Despite this, he was classified as merely a "low risk" on parole assessment documents. The pest control contractor had come that morning to eradicate the roaches in their cages. He refused to let Simon out unless he said, `No more Warlocks. It was New Jersey who didnt monitor him after he was out, Peruto said. Robert "Mudman" Simon, 48, was the first to meet such an end since the moratorium on capital punishment in the United States was lifted 23 years ago. His gaze was chilling. Youre looking at flowers! As claimed by Mihalick, they both had been unaware of Simon's homicidal history as he misled them to believing he was just a reformed drug dealer. He reads flower books!. Tell you the truth, I been considering a B&E myself. "They're the guys on the street. People rarely got very far once Mudman Simon stepped into their path. [16], After a total three parole rejections, Simon was recommended for parole in November 1994 by a PBPP hearing examiner under the conditioned that he abstain from alcohol and avoid contact with the Warlocks Motorcycle Club. Robert (Mudman) Simon, who had a reputation for taunting fellow inmates at New Jersey State Prison in Trenton, apparently singled out Ambrose (Squirt Boy) Harris as his next target. Ippolito "Lee" Gonzalez of Franklin Township, Gloucester County, New Jersey pulled over Warlocks members Robert "Mudman" Simon and Charles "Shovel" Staples on a traffic stop moments after the two had committed a commercial burglary. That girl was a good friend of his whom he brought up the mountains to see her boyfriend. In 1995, the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole paroled Warlocks bike gang member Robert "Mudman" Simon, disregarding strong warnings from the judge who convicted him. The neighborhood was a bit of a bastard, as neighborhoods went. It was the first official 1% outlaw motorcycle club founded in Pennsylvania. Follow him on Twitter @GregAdomaitis. There was a steel mill, a stone quarry, a beer distributorship that looked like an aircraft hangar, a sandwich shop built to resemble a space ship, a truck depot and a Knights of Columbus hall. But it did provide rich training ground and source material for storytellinga certain kind of storytellingnonetheless. Simon and Charles ``Shovel Staples, the vice president of the Warlocks South Jersey chapter, are charged with murdering Franklin Township Sgt. Simon was jailed in 1982 for 10 to 20 years after killing a girlfriend who refused to have sex with gang members. While on Death Row, Harris attacked and killed another Death Row inmate, Robert "Mudman" Simon, a beefy, scraggly long-haired and long-bearded 48-year-old outlaw biker, with several previous murder convictions. Robert (Mudman) Simon, released from Graterford state prison in February after serving 20 years, is one of two men charged with the fatal shooting of Franklin Township, N.J., Officer Ippolito . Simon could always come with the money. Ippolito "Lee" Gonzalez of Franklin Township, Gloucester County, New Jersey pulled over Warlocks members Robert "Mudman" Simon and Charles "Shovel" Staples on a traffic stop moments after the two had committed a commercial burglary. If you Google the words 'Robert Mudman Simon' or type them into the archives of the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News, links to hundreds of articles magically appear. No executions have been carried out because of legal appeals and a tradition of liberalism in the state's supreme court. Dalton said a Gloucester County law enforcement museum, to open at the Rowan College at Gloucester County library later this month, will feature a wall of honor and a plaque for Gonzalez. He was there when Harris murdered Mudman . In crime fiction, many of those peopleboth fictional characters and their real life counterpartsarent very nice. Also if you have more information about your club that you would like to confidentially share, in particular details about a club's founding such as dates or founding members, as these can be extremely difficult to find, please send us a message. Ippolito "Lee" Gonzalez of Franklin Township, Gloucester County, New Jersey pulled over Warlocks members Robert "Mudman" Simon and Charles "Shovel" Staples on a traffic stop moments after the two had committed a commercial burglary. You goin armed robbery on this?, Theres a guy outside waiting for me, I confessed. Robert "Mudman" Simon By genealogy.com user February 05, 2000 at 06:01:36. Its a shame that there arent more like him. You go outside and Ill follow you., Dont worry about it, little brother. On May 6, 1995, defendant Robert "Mudman" Simon shot and killed Franklin Township Police Officer Ippolito "Lee" Gonzalez during an otherwise routine traffic stop of a car in which Simon was a passenger. Bobby and the boyfriend stepped out to grab some beer and the three perverts he left her with killed her. Bobby helped them discard her body because thats what bros do. The governors of Pennsylvania and New Jersey were dragged into the finger-pointing, buck passing and heated debate that fueled outraged newspaper editorials and filled airtime on TV and radio. Ippolito Gonzalez. Publication date. A country club. You plunder and kill, and everythings OK, and the strong survive. In 1999 death row inmate Robert "Mudman" Simon, who was convicted of killing a police officer, died during a fight. [13] Furthermore, Simon's trailer home residence was only a few feet from a bar known to be frequented by Warlocks bikers. He spat his gum out on the sidewalk. He moved toward me once again. TRENTON, N.J. A man who raped and killed a Pennsylvania artist and who fatally beat a fellow inmate on New Jerseys death row has died in prison. to go to prison and therefore avoid illegal activities like burglary and murder. I executed a great escape by walking off with Mr. Carr, thoughtfully informing him that Trixie was the favorite dog of everyone in the neighborhood. Maybe he wants to be a fuckin landscaper and hes studying on it. Ippolito . Mr. Carr loved Trixie; a few white lies never hurt anyone. Squirt Boy took the opening and ran with it, stomping the Mudman until his brains oozed onto the ground, then popped his eyes out for good measure. People like Simon were feared for good reason. As a teenager and in my early 20s, I wasnt any angel. You want a partner? The lethal injection chamber at the prison was never used, and the New Jersey Governor repealed the death penalty in December 2007. Not only for the Gonzalez family, but for the Franklin Township Police Department," said Gloucester County Prosecutor Sean Dalton, who was a state legislator at the time of the shooting. On a sunny September morning Mud got into an altercation on the death row yard with a con known as Squirt Boy, a scumbag awaiting final judgment for the rape and murder of a young artist. [10] John Lavelle, the Judge who handled Simon's trial, stated that dozens of Warlocks bikers would circle the courthouse on their motorcycles each day in during 1995 in an attempt to intimidate the jurors quite possibly the reason behind his conviction for second-degree murder instead of first-degree murder. [8][9] According to his fellow Warlock bikers, Simon talked about having sexual intercourse with Dusenberg's mummified corpse after he buried it in a water-filled strip mine near Hazleton and even hoped to decorate his jail cell with physical photographs of such evidence. Who was I going to call? Tattoos decorated both of Muds massive arms. Along with his testicles, which Yo was now clutching with both hands. 97-2510 (JBS) | Casetext Search + Citator", https://www.upi.com/Archives/1996/02/28/Panel-suggests-prison-parole-reforms/1727825483600/, https://casetext.com/case/mihalick-v-simon, "Panel Wants to Remove Out-of-State Parole Review From Corrections Dept", "Biker Is Sentenced to Death for Killing Officer", "FindLaw's Supreme Court of New Jersey case and opinions", "Where We Live: Crimes worthy of TV shows | Times News Online", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Robert_Simon_(biker)&oldid=1142925589, People convicted of murder by Pennsylvania, American people convicted of murdering police officers, American people who died in prison custody, Prisoners who died in New Jersey detention, Prisoners sentenced to death by New Jersey, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Unidentified prisoner at SCI Pittsburgh (alleged), This page was last edited on 5 March 2023, at 01:47. Simon was a motorcycle gang member who was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of Franklin Township Police Sgt. Cat Zingano ahead of her fight at UFC 232 in 2018. Dimensions. After that, paroles, like commutations, declined dramatically. Harris repeatedly kicked and stomped Simon before jumping from a table's stainless steel stool and landing on his head, fatally crushing Simon's skull.[27]. More Local News to Love Start today for 50% off Expires 3/6/23, Lancaster resident found guilty of giving man serious brain injuries during bar fight. There were a lot of good hard-working people in the neighborhood, with collars both blue and white. [21] Evidence collected from the car confirmed that the two gang members were, in fact, the ones who had robbed Environmental Heating building. I got your back, no problem.. Yo appeared rather impatient and irritated. According to police informants, her body was buried in Tinicum Marsh. Mudman met Squirt Boy on death row. In order to write about those things, a certain journalistic detachment is required. Ippolito "Lee" Gonzalez on May 6, 1995. [21], In a haste, Staples immediately drove himself and Simon away from the area but were soon pursued by nearby police officers who had heard the two gunshots on Sgt. Staples sped off before surrendering. Such is the life of the 1%. As Simon was let out of his cell so it could be fumigated, he tried to tackle Harris in a recreation cage, sources said. [13] Throughout his prison tenure, he received a total of 49 misconducts, which included drug trafficking in addition to drug use. Pa. 1999)", "MEDICAL RECORDS MAY IDENTIFY BURNED BODY POLICE", "Mihalick v. Simon, CIVIL ACTION NO. Simon was a motorcycle gang member who was sentenced to death . Certainly it's not the majority of motorcycle enthusiasts," he offered. March 3 (UPI) -- Firefighters in Britain responded to a home to rescue a horse that had fallen into its owner's swimming pool and was unable to get itself out. Like the other 1% gangs, the Warlocks murder, deal drugs, rob, and bat the crap about of people, among other activities. The information that we share is true to the best of our knowledge, but often misinformation has a way of appearing on the internet, so please contact us and let us know if our facts aren't right. Required fields are marked *. Florida woman runs ultra-marathon distances for 23 consecutive days. ``He looked like he belonged in the Viking days. The D&D crowd just loved me. . Even by Warlock standards, Simon was a piece of work. One Warlock, Robert "Mudman" Simon, was convicted in 1981 of killing a Carbon County woman. My affection for The Waltons was inexplicable on the surface; the shows setting and characters were even more alien to me than those of another childhood favorite, Star Trek. With approval from the New Jersey parole board, he settled at Black Horse RV Trailer Park in Williamstown, New Jersey when released. March 3 (UPI) -- A Kentucky man who stopped to buy some breakfast said he lost his appetite when he won $50,000 from a scratch-off lottery ticket. Pattis letter reminded me about the Warlock MC gang. Stopping to help, he finds that the driver, Michael Ballard, is aliveand drenched in blood. On May 6, 1995 Police Sgt. You could hear something break. The former was out on parole in 1995 after spending more than a decade behind bars in Pennsylvania. There was Yo-Yo, pacing restlessly, smoking one of those Winstons allegedly purchased for his mother. Jonathan Brown told the state Senate Judiciary Committee he saw Simon pay prison staffers to remove reports of misconduct and failed drug tests from his file, allowing him to qualify for parole. Simon was paroled despite the assessment of his trial judge, Carbon County Judge John Lavelle, who described Simon as 'one of the most dangerous individuals' who ever appeared before him and said 'it would only be a matter of time before (Simon) would kill again. Soupy Sales.. The only thing Bobby was guilty of was helping them to dispose of the body. Apparently he had unsuccessfully attempted to return some items for which he lacked, unsurprisingly, a receipt. 464 Conchester Highway, Aston, PA 19014-3106. Respondent, Progressive Express Insurance Company ("Progressive"), is the Defendant in the trial court and the Appellee in the District Court of Appeal. After serving 12 1/2 years of a 10- to 20-year sentence for murder, he went free in February and settled in Williamstown with the New Jersey parole boards approval. Asked about the presence of violent motorcycle gangs in the area, Dalton said they still exist throughout the state and region. It wasnt the Iowa Writers Workshop, exactly. Simon and Staples, both members of the Warlocks motorcycle club albeit from different generations, didn't know each other for very long -- about 11 weeks. Ippolito Gonzalez of the Franklin . They have also appeared throughout many classic horror-themed films and TV series. Robert Simon was a member of the Upper Darby teen gang called the Warlords that merged with a group from Darby to create the Warlocks. Operating at the time out of what's now a bank in Newfield, Hogan said his force wire-tapped the Warlocks' phones and raided their headquarters a few times. Who is this asshole?, Yo-Yo, Mud repeated, his inflection making it sound like the name of a disease that people didnt mention in polite company. If you messed with the people he cared about, you got hurt but on the most part, fighting wasnt something that came natural to him. All the broads loved him! TRENTON, N.J. (AP) Ambrose Harris and Robert "Mudman" Simon lived in side-by-side cells at the capital sentence unit of New Jersey State Prison. [4][5] Being a member of the gang was such a substantial part of Simon's life to the point where he would even tout his religion as "Warlock". According to their mission statement: We aren't here to pick sides, it is the stories that we find the most interesting. You didnt know what hed do from one day to the next.. The club is most prominent in and has significant territory in the Delaware Valley, including Philadelphia, Delaware County, South Jersey, and Wilmington, though they also have a heavy presence . As an honor to Gonzalez, two graduating Delsea Regional High School students are awarded a $1,500 scholarship every year to further their education in law enforcement. Cat Zingano is suing award-winning actress turned director Halle Berry for damages over an offered movie role that never materialized in her . He killed another inmate in prison but was acquitted on the grounds of self-defence. Tell you what, he added, slapping me on the back. After refusing to abide the warning, the officer shot Simon in the leg which caused him to flip over the guardrail and surrender to the authorities thereafter. A diner that later served as the setting for a pivotal scene in a popular Oscar-winning film. And who can forget Robert "Mudman" Simon. Div . The most highly publicized case heard in Lavelle's courtroom was the 1982 trial of Robert "Mudman" Simon, a founding member of the Philadelphia-based Warlocks motorcycle gang. A jury acquitted Harris of Simons death, saying he acted in self-defense. Simon, a motorcycle gang member who was one of the state's most notorious prisoners, was pronounced dead after being involved in the fight with Ambrose Harris, corrections spokeswoman Mary Ellen Bolton said. He was cracking his knuckles. Your email address will not be published. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Then one night, Staples suggested burglarizing a house he knew was unoccupied at the time. He had a sick sense of humor, Davis said. Simon, a member of the Warlocks bikers' gang, was the first to die on death row since New Jersey readopted capital punishment in 1982. You could have a couple of beers and a few laughs with him and escape unscathed. Ippolito "Lee" Gonzalez. Following a lengthy series of felonies and several prison stints, Mudman Simon was convicted of murdering a local girl who had disrespected him at a party. That was in 1999, 18 years after being convicted of murder, four years after murdering Gonzalez. On May 6th, less than three months after being released from prison, Simon, along with another Warlock, Charles "Shovel" Staples, was pulled over in Gloucester County, NJ, by Police Sgt. [19] Simon continued to use drugs and associate with the Warlocks MC, in violation of his parole conditions. Ill be waiting for you outside, he promised. If you Google the words Robert Mudman Simon or type them into the archives of the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News, links to hundreds of articles magically appear. He chuckled and swaggered off toward his house up the block. It might have been related to a school project. He spent 14 years in prison and was released in 1995. My mom? "I think Robert Simon would rather have died on the floor fighting than take his lethal injection," said John Call, his former lawyer. There were corner bars, rowhouses, nondescript apartment buildings, even a trailer park discreetly tucked away in the woods by the railroad tracks.