When a tattoo artist vanished, the trail led police to a notorious motorcycle club and a childhood companion with a murky history.
“The case of Keith Palumbo’s disappearance was unlike anything we’d encountered before,” reflected retired Detective Chris McMullin during a May 2 broadcast of Philly Homicide. “The depths of the mystery were unknown to us at the start.”
Four days after Keith borrowed his mother Dottie Palumbo’s car, she reported him missing. In their last conversation, Dottie noticed he seemed uneasy and wore the gold guitar pick necklace she had given him.
“Dottie sensed something was amiss,” remarked Upper Darby Township Police Superintendent Timothy Bernhardt. “It was a classic case of a mother’s intuition.”
What Happened to Keith Palumbo?
Not long after Keith disappeared, his mother’s car was discovered in an area notorious for drug activity. Friends feared the aspiring musician, who had previously battled addiction, might have relapsed.
They insisted that the police talk to Keith’s longtime friend Mike DeLuca, a known member of the Warlocks biker gang and someone well-acquainted with the authorities.
“If you were to meet him for the first time, I would say, somewhat of an intimidating person,” said retired Philadelphia Police Detective Joe Bamberski. “Michael DeLuca had been in prison for several years for an incident where he was convicted of aggravated assault.”
There was just one problem: Mike was missing, too.
As investigators worked on the case, Keith’s friends shared an essential detail with detectives. Ten days before Keith went missing, he had been shot in the leg, but he refused to identify the gunman.
Detectives Uncover Shocking Lead in Keith Palumbo Disappearance
When detectives looked closer into Keith’s circle, they found Buck Evans, a Warlocks member with a criminal past—and a grudge against Keith. After all, Buck believed that Keith had gotten his son arrested on drug charges.
During questioning, Buck admitted to shooting Keith, but denied involvement in his disappearance. Still, he hinted that something might have happened to Keith at the Warlocks clubhouse.
That’s where detectives found a shocking scene.
“There was a lot of blood on the walls,” noted Philadelphia Police Detective John Taggart. “It was high-velocity blood spatter, very small droplets, and there was a large puddling of blood that ran along the baseboard. But was it Keith’s blood or is it Mike’s blood?”
Where Did Police Find Keith Palumbo’s Body?
Keith’s cell phone records later showed that his device had shut down close to Mount Moriah Cemetery & Arboretum, a 200-acre burial ground.
While searching the cemetery, police noticed a pre-Civil War crypt with a large capstone that appeared to have been moved. The surrounding marble bore fresh scratches.
Police pried the top open and lowered an inspection camera inside, spotting a piece of blue material.
“When I peeked into the grave, you could see a body on a tarp that was on its back, face up,” said Taggart. “Almost like he’s staring back at you.”
The victim had a fresh leg wound and around his neck hung a guitar pick necklace. Meanwhile, a second body, much more decomposed than the first, lay nearby.
What Happened to Keith Palumbo and Mike DeLuca?
The remains were identified as Keith Palumbo and David Rossillo, a prospective Warlocks member who had been missing since 2017. Lab results later confirmed that blood in the clubhouse belonged to Keith.
When investigators interviewed the Warlocks’ confessions came quickly.
Clubhouse owner Donna Morelli admitted to helping cover up Keith’s murder at the gravesite. Surveillance video from the night Keith was killed showed her truck—driven by Mike with Warlocks member Billy Gibson as a passenger—appearing to transport a body to her house, which opened into the cemetery.
Buck and Billy told police that Mike shot Keith in the head at the clubhouse, falsely believing he was an informant.
“Once everyone starts getting arrested, the other guys are trying to get out of it and pointing the finger at each other,” said Taggart. “All that loyalty of the Warlocks about not snitching, they all turned out to be snitches.”
In 2021, Mike was arrested in Wyoming during a traffic stop and extradited to Pennsylvania. Two years later, he pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to 25 to 35 years in prison.
Meanwhile, Buck, Billy and Donna also pleaded guilty and were each sentenced to 18 to 24 months in prison for covering up Keith’s murder.
“I can’t even put into words how hard it was to hear that Mike was responsible,” said friend Matthew Sondermann. “Growing up, we were inseparable, best friends, did everything together, went everywhere together. And Dottie, Keith’s mom, she loved Mike like a son.”
