4 Men arrested in Bucks slayings

[D.L. Man]

This is a freaking tragedy. But why did they have to throw out the phrase
AK-47 when the chances are it wasn't one? I don't get it? Whenever I am
around crackheads (And I try never to be around them) I am always packing in
case they go into a fit.

http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/news/local/11664705.htm

FOUR ALLEGED West Philly drug pushers drove to their customers' home in
Warminster last Thursday, hoping to run off with the suburbanites' expensive
stash of about 10 guns.

One of the men brought his 2-year-old son, thinking the presence of the tot
would make their visit look less sinister to their hosts, Wayne J. and Carol
Denno, Bucks County District Attorney Diane Gibbons said yesterday.

The four men smoked some crack with the Dennos. But as the six adults doped
up, their tempers rose, too.

An argument broke out between Wayne Denno and one of the four men over an
$800 drug debt that Denno owed, and that exploded in a rage of violence that
claimed the lives of the Dennos, Gibbons said.

Wayne Denno, 47, and Carol, 44, each was stabbed between 25 to 35 times,
Gibbons said. Wayne was nearly decapitated.

Then they stole the Dennos' rifles, shotguns and an AK-47 from the basement
of the couple's ranch home, she said.

"When you get involved in the drug world, this is the world you get involved
in," Gibbons said. "Drug dealers are violent people by nature, and you
cannot deal with drug dealers and think you are going to be safe."

The D.A.'s office charged Allan Dillard, 21, and brothers David Carmichael,
28; Carlos Carmichael, 31, and Matthew Carmichael, 23, each with
first-degree murder, robbery, abuse of corpse and other crimes.

Matthew Carmichael, who brought his son, "Matt Matt" to the Denno house, sat
the boy on his lap while the group smoked crack, and he allowed him to watch
the stabbing of Wayne Denno, Gibbons said.

"As a parent I am appalled that people would expose a child to that kind of
violence," said Warminster Police Chief Mike Murphy.

The Denno double-murder is the first slaying in the suburb in three years.

One of Carol Denno's relatives found the bodies mid-afternoon Saturday
inside their home on Bradley Lane, where they had lived since 1996.

Neighbors said they were a quiet couple.

Carol loved growing flowers in the yard. Wayne was often seen mowing the
lawn.

Warminster and Philadelphia cops arrested the foursome yesterday in the home
of David and Matthew Carmichael on Salford Street near Filbert in West
Philadelphia.

Authorities said a witness from Warminster remembered having seen the child
with the men. That tip led police to one of the four suspects, who then
dimed out the three others.

All four are being held without bail. Gibbons said she would seek the death
penalty against them.

All four confessed to the killings, telling authorities that they had
intended only to rob the couple.

Gibbons said her office still had not found the stolen guns because the
suspects allegedly used the stash to pay off debts and to buy drugs.

According to an affidavit of probable cause, this is what happened:

Authorities said the four had planned for two days to steal the Dennos' gun
stash.

First, Dillard received a phone call from Carol Denno asking him to sell her
some more crack. He said yes and agreed to drive up from the city with the
drugs.

Dillard arrived with his three friends and little "Matt Matt." Carol invited
the four men into her home and poured the toddler some juice before they got
high.

Minutes later Wayne Denno and Dillard began quarreling over the drug debt.

Denno grabbed a knife and stabbed David Carmichael. Dillard then intervened,
choking Denno with one arm while stabbing him with a knife.

At some point, Denno yelled to his wife, "Carol, get the gun."

David Carmichael ran after her and yelled that he needed a knife. His
brother Matthew brought him the weapon, and the two took turns stabbing her.

While the couple lay bleeding, Dillard and David Carmichael went to get the
guns in the basement. On the way up, Dillard realized Wayne Denno was still
alive in the kitchen.

So Dillard ordered Carlos Carmichael to hit Denno with a gun and told
Matthew Carmichael to slash Denno's throat.

After the slayings, some of the suspects destroyed the clothes they wore.
Matthew Carmichael, according to the affidavit, gave his son's sneakers, one
of which had blood on it, to his companions so they could get rid of it.