A letter from a reader

who was also a reporter...

   My dear friend Patti sent a letter in response to my post the other day about walking along Merion Rd when the Pagan MC drove by:

“…in the 1970s, members of the Warlocks (NFM: the main rivals to the Pagan MC) were suspected in the deaths of a 17-year-old girl and a 20-year-old woman whose skeletal remains were found in the Tinicum marsh, now known as the John Heinz Wildlife Preserve. It was believed they were picked-up in the Warlocks' trolling ground, the old MacDade Mall, but were killed when they refused to participate in the gang's "initiation rites". Police  had insufficient evidence to nail gang members for the marsh murders, but they did successfully make a case against another Warlock , Robert Nauss, who may have disposed of a body in the marsh. He was convicted of brutally murdering his girlfriend in a room atop the Darby garage of a fellow Warlock whose testimony about Nauss proudly showing him her body, secured Nauss's conviction even though her body was never found. On a Saturday when the Delaware County Daily Times' regular courthouse reporter was off, I had to cover Nauss' trial. At one point, he turned around and glared at me in the nearly empty courtroom, even though he didn't know me from Adam. His gaze was chilling. In 1983, Nauss managed to escape from Graterford Prison in a cabinet created in the woodworking shop. When the authorities caught up with him about seven years later, he was living under an alias, apparently an upstanding citizen with a wife and several children in the Midwest. He may have redeemed himself, or possibly was just playing it smart to avoid capture, but either, I bet, was of little solace to his victim's loved ones.”

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Patti’s letter reminded me about the Warlock MC gang. I’d forgotten about them. The Warlocks MC, another 1% club, was founded in 1967 right here in Philadelphia. They are active throughout the Delaware Valley, including South Jersey and Wilmington, with Delco and Philly being their main stomping grounds. Like the other 1% gangs, the Warlocks murder, deal drugs, rob, and bat the crap about of people, among other activities.

One Warlock, Robert “Mudman” Simon, was convicted in 1981 of killing a Carbon County woman. He spent 14 years in prison and was released in 1995.

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. Ippolito "Lee" Gonzalez. Simon shot Gonzales twice, in the head and neck, killing him instantly. The two bikers had just committed a commercial burglary. Simon stated that he shot Gonzalez because he didn’t want to go back the prison. He’d only been out three months so I can see why he wouldn’t want to go back to prison. Of course, none of us wants to go to prison and therefore avoid illegal activities like burglary and murder. Simon took a different route in his attempt to stay out of prison - murdering a policeman. It proved unsuccessful and he ended up back in the slammer.

While on death row, Simon was stomped to death by Ambrose Harris. That was in 1999, 18 years after being convicted of murder, four years after murdering Gonzalez. Such is the life of the 1%.

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There’s a FB group called, “Pagan MC is a bunch of losers.” It’s a “page dedicated to spreading awareness about the crime ridden motorcycle club called the Pagans.” The page has 124 followers. There are other OMC FB pages, which just seems crazy to me because nothing seems less OMC than FB, except maybe Christmas or quilting. Some examples of OMC related FB pages:

The “Warlocks MC NY” Facebook page has 907 followers.

The “Warlocks Winchester MC” facebook page which states, “We are a nonprofit motorcycle club. We have chapters worldwide. We are men 1st and formost. We believe in taking care of our own. Family and community. 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.

Then there’s the “One Percenter Bikers,” official FB page of the www.OnePercenterBikers.com, with over 20,000 followers. According to their “mission” statement:

We aren't here to pick sides, it is the stories that we find the most interesting.

We want to share with you the history of outlaw motorcycle clubs and the major events that they have been through over the last several decades.

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.

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.

I guess they want to make sure they get the details right, wouldn’t want any misinformation, or fake news, out there about your motorcycle gang. Very noble and upright of them.