Big Rig Tied To NoLib Slayings Searched

PHILADELPHIA - Only On Fox: Police execute search warrants on a big rig found outside a Northern Liberties murder scene that may be linked to the drug-related killings.

Police are making some progress in the double murder caught on tape, reported Fox 29's Dave Schratwieser. While homicide detectives are trying to identify the four suspects who committed these murders, other investigators were searching a tractor trailer belonging to one of the victims.

Slideshow: Images From Surveillance Tape

Only Fox 29 News was there as homicide detectives and forensic experts poured over the 18-wheeler at a police impound lot. They came looking for clues in the murder of Rian Thal and retired firefighter Timothy Gilmore who were executed inside the Northern Liberties condo complex Saturday afternoon.

“I don't think that was a robbery or anything of the sort. That was a paid hit and they were probably from out of town. It was over drugs and there's no doubt in my mind," says lawyer Chuck Peruto, Jr.

Investigators searched the truck for cocaine, money and log books which might tell them where the truck had been before Gilmore and another man left it parked outside the complex Friday. Police found four kilos of coke and $111,000 in cash stashed in Thal's residence after the murder.

“That's as much of a professional hit as you're ever gonna see on a video," says Peruto, Jr.

Chuck Peruto, Jr. represented Thal during an earlier arrest and has kept in contact with her over the years. He says Thal was the life of the party and had a reputation for throwing big celebrity events at local clubs.

“In Old City, everybody knows Rian. She threw great parties. She loved to have celebrities there," says Peruto, Jr.

Homicide investigators say this was a well-planned hit - utilizing lookouts and gunmen at both ends of Thal's hallway. They were lying in wait when she and Gilmore returned to the complex. Within seconds, they were dead and the hit men made their getaway. Peruto thinks the answer to these murders will come from the drug world.

“She had a dark side and it's coming out in the press now. It's actually good, ironically, that it's coming out in the press because that's how they're gonna solve this," says Peruto, Jr.

Police sources say they did not find anything of note inside the tractor trailer - some clues and evidence that they hope will lead to the identities of the suspects.

Police are searching for a 6'8" heavyset man caught on tape leaving Thal's condo after the murder. He stepped over the dead bodies and fled with a duffel bag over his shoulder, say police.