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The body of Sam Derry, the stepfather of the popular rapper, was positively identified even though he was burned so badly that his race couldn’t initially determined, reports local NBC 10.
Derry’s body was found on Tuesday morning in the West Oak Lane section of Philadelphia, but investigators later discovered that he died of multiple gunshot wounds. Authorities theorize that Derry was killed in a different location and then brought over into the West Oak lane area.
Witnesses told NBC 10 that they saw a white SUV or van dump the body into a remote alley. “Seen a van drive up. I saw two -- I saw two people dragging something, three people just dragging something into the trash,” the witness said. "I seen a -- I heard a whoosh, a big whoosh and then all of a sudden it was this fire. I said, 'Oh, they're putting the trash on fire back here.' But I said, 'Oh, my goodness, that's no trash, that's a body.'"
The witness called 911 after seeing the body parts.
According to reports, Derry was acquitted of murder in 1985, but didn’t offer any motive to the crime, nor a reason for the gross mutilation of the body.
Beanie Sigel wasn’t available at press time, but the rapper recently commented on the rash of violence that has afflicted his native Philadelphia.
“It’s the same thing everywhere,” he said of the violence he raps about. “People talk about it like it’s a new thing. It’s always been here, but people didn’t get that chance or that opportunity to talk that. It’s the same thing anywhere.”
About 5:40 a.m. this morning, officers were dispatched to the 6700 block of North Third Street to investigate a report of a person with a weapon.
Upon arriving on the scene, they found a witness who reported that Wallace Moody had been abducted as he headed to his vehicle.
The witness described how the Moody was intercepted by two dark-colored vehicles and accosted at gunpoint by three African American men wearing gray hooded sweatshirts.
Police said the man was forced into the vehicle, which disappeared after speeding off north towards Third Street toward Cheltenham Avenue.
Moody was said to have known Samuel Derry, the slain stepfather-of Beanie Sigel.
At press time, detectives were investigating reports that the abducted man had been a cellmate of Derry or his brother in prison.
In the wake of the tragedy, Def Jam released this statement to AllHipHop.com:
"We are shocked and saddened by this horrible tragedy. Our thoughts, prayers and deepest condolences are with Dwight Grant (Beanie Sigel), his mother Michelle Brown Derry and their wonderful family. We ask that the public, and especially the media, respect the privacy of the family during this time of mourning," said Shawn Carter, Antonio Reid, Steve Bartels and the entire Island Def Jam Music Group family.
Sigel’s lawyer Fortunato Perri Jr. confirmed that the chart topping rapper will appear before the federal grand jury next week.
The rapper’s stepfather Sam Derry, was found shot to death earlier this week. His body was then dumped in an alley in the West Oak Lane section of Philadelphia and set ablaze.
The following day, an associate of Derry’s and former cellmate named Wallace “Tom” Moody, was abducted at gunpoint.
Moody told police his captors tortured him for hours. He was burnt with a propane torch and struck with a gun and shovel for hours by the assailants, who were seeking drugs and money.
"I told them I wasn't in the game anymore. They kept telling me that I better make some calls," Moody said in his statement to police.
Moody also told local reporters the men were seeking a drug dealer driving a Cadillac Escalade.
Police are investigating whether or not the beating and the murder of Sigel’s stepfather are related.
When Moody surfaced, police promptly arrested him for violating his parole, after they found a gun in his house.
In late September, Sigel was acquitted of attempted murder, stemming from a 2003 shooting in front of a Philadelphia bar.
According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the grand jury subpoena is in relation to a totally different investigation and has nothing to do with the kidnapping or the murder of Sigel’s stepfather.