Man Arrested in Bartender Death

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Irish Voice News

Man Arrested in Bartender Death

January 16, 2008

By April Drew

A PHILADELPHIA bar operator has been charged with the brutal murder of Belfast man Seamus O’Neill on Saturday, January 12. A second man, who is accused to assisting in concealing the crime, has been charged with obstruction.

Police picked up John McLaughlin, 36, last Friday at a hotel in Coopersburg just north of Quakertown, on Route 309 in Pennsylvania after a warrant was issued for his arrest on Tuesday, January 8.

McLaughlin was arraigned on Saturday and charged with murder, possession of an instrument of a crime, abuse of a corpse and conspiracy.

It is believed that McLaughlin beat O’Neill to death with a baseball bat before wrapping his body in tarp and duct tape and placing him in the basement of the bar that McLaughlin operated, McWhitey’s at Venago and Mercer Streets in Port Richmond.

A second suspect, John Ciglar, 44, was also arrested and charged with possession of an instrument of a crime, conspiracy, obstruction, hindering apprehension and abuse to a corpse.

O’Neill, 60, was believed to have gone to McWhitey’s for a drink after his shift ended at My Blue Heaven where he bartended for 13 years on Thursday, January 3. Police believe the pair, who were friends, got into a fight and McLaughlin bludgeoned O’Neill to death. Police said McLaughlin’s sister owns the bar but he operated it on a daily basis.

O’Neill’s body was discovered by his wife and brother in the basement of the bar after they found his grey Ford Taurus car parked across the street. The shocking discovery was made just two days after the Belfast man’s family reported him missing.

McWhitey’s bar has been shut down by the Department of Licenses and Inspections after it’s license was revoked for being a public nuisance and home to illegal violent activity.

Relatives of O’Neill arrived from Belfast last weekend to be with the victim’s wife Bonnie and his four children. It is believed that O’Neill’s elderly mother, Jean, has been in the U.S. since Christmas.

O’Neill, originally from Duncairn Parade in the New Lodge area of Belfast city, was living in the U.S. for almost 30 years.

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