Warlocks member killed recruit in cemetery, hid body in crypt: Philly DA

August 11, 2023

He couldn’t keep this secret buried forever.

A member of a notorious Philadelphia motorcycle gang was convicted of murdering a prospective member in a cemetery — and dumping his body in a nearby crypt, according to the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office.

Michael DiMauro, a member of the outlawed Warlocks, was found guilty on Tuesday of slaying 33-year-old David Rossillo, Jr. in 2017, District Attorney Larry Kasner’s office announced.

The 51-year-old, who represented himself at trial, was convicted on all charges, including first-degree murder, conspiracy, abuse of corpse, after a short deliberation by the jury.

DiMauro and Rossillo met at the Mount Moriah Cemetery in southwest Philadelphia after a member of the cemetery’s nonprofit board let them in, the DA’s office said.

There, DiMauro shot the Warlock recruit several times.

Philadelphia crypt — DiMauro shot and killed Rosillo in 2017 and then hid his body inside a cemetery crypt.

crypt and cops — Investigators found Rosillo’s body and the remains of another man in the crypt in 2020.

DiMauro then “tied a rope around Rossillo’s neck, and then dragged his body to a crypt using a vehicle before prying open the crypt and dropping the body inside,” the DA’s office said in a press release.

Two cooperating witnesses implicated the gangster.

Three years later, in April 2020, investigators found Rossillo’s body as well as the remains of 36-year-old Keith Palumbo — a musician from Delaware County. Both were identified in August 2020 from DNA samples.

DiMauro was arrested the following month.

Another Warlocks gang member, Michael DeLuca, was arrested in 2021 and pleaded guilty to third-degree murder in Palumbo’s slaying in January 2023. Three other co-conspirators pleaded guilty for their roles in helping dispose of the bodies.

police going into philadelphia crypt — Two cooperating witnesses implicated DiMauro in the grisly killing, the DA’s office said.

pried-open crypt — The bodies were found at Mount Moriah Cemetery in southwest Philadelphia.

Motives for both killings are still not known, Lasner’s office said.

“We are committed to bringing justice in cold cases like this,” Krasner said in a statement. “I believe that these convictions should send a message to any persons who think they can murder others and hide the evidence of their heinous crimes: We will solve these cases and we will bring you to justice.”

DiMauro will be sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole later this month, the DA’s office said.