In all, Maurice and Michael Wilkins are charged with killing three people. See VIDEO from the news conference. Watch video
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Michael, left, and Maurice Wilkins face three counts of murder in the killings of a Palmer Township man and another man in Reading and then the burning alive of a Reading woman in Salisbury Township.
Michael Alan Wilkins, 39, and Maurice Adrian Wilkins, 32, of
Ruscombmanor Township, Pa., are being held without bail at Berks County prison. Michael Wilkins was arraigned Monday night and Maurice has been in prison since Jan. 5. They are each charged with three counts of murder and related offenses.
The body of Dario McLemore, 22, of the first block of Olde Penn Drive in Palmer, was found about 2:30 a.m. Dec. 4 in the 1100 block of Franklin Street in Reading seconds after shots were heard, Reading police Sgt. John Solecki said at the time. Rafael N. Alequin, also 22, was found dead in a nearby car. McLemore died of a single gunshot wound to the chest, while Alequin was killed by multiple gunshot wounds, the Berks County coroner determined on Dec. 6, according to court records.
Jennifer Velez-Negron, 26, of Reading, died Dec. 27; her burning body was found along Chestnut Hill Road in Salisbury. She died from asphyxiation and thermal injuries, the coroner determined.
Authorities say she witnessed the killings of McLemore and Alequin. All three cases were homicides, authorities said.
On March 8, police from Reading and Salisbury interviewed a witness who said Maurice Wilkins said Dec. 4 that he was involved in a shooting and needed to get out of town, according to court papers. The witness told police that Wilkins said his brother, Michael, was ripped off by McLemore and Alequin in a drug deal involving $700 in fake cocaine, court papers say. Maurice Wilkins said he shot one of the men, court papers say.
The witness another time was present for a conversation involving the Wilkins brothers and Carlos Vargas-Osorio where all three men explained their roles in the double killing, court papers say. Michael Wilkins said he had shot the other man and that Vargas-Osorio drove him from the scene, the witness said, according to court papers. Vargas-Osorio is not charged in the case.
The witness told police Maurice Wilkins said Jan. 3 his brother and he tortured and killed Velez-Negron, court records say. Maurice Wilkins showed the witness a video of Velez-Negron duct-taped to a chair, gagged, being forced to ingest heroin and physically tortured, court papers say. Michael Wilkins in the recording says "this is the last time she is going to set someone up," court papers say.
Maurice Wilkins told the witness they took Velez-Negron to Lehigh County where they doused her with gasoline and set her on fire, court papers say. Michael Wilkins had a similar conversation with the witness, court papers say.
The witness told police Velez was killed because she witnessed the other two killings, court papers say.
Both Wilkins brothers are charged with three counts of first degree murder, three counts of third degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, aggravated assault, kidnapping and firearms violations.