Deadly Sword Attack in South Philly

SOUTH PHILADELPHIA - September 10, 2007 (WPVI) -- Veteran homicide investigators describe the scene as one of the goriest crimes they have ever seen.

The hunt continues for the two men who attacked the victim with what authorities described as a two-foot long ceremonial sword. It appears they too may have been injured in the vicious attack.

Authorities removed the victim's body from his apartment at 1432 West Porter Street on Monday night. Twenty-year-old Anthony DiMattio appeared to have been stabbed at least five times in the head and torso during an apparent robbery. One of the murder weapons was a two foot ceremonial sword the victim had hanging on his wall. The sword was tossed in a trashcan in front of the apartment when the killers fled the scene. The victim's uncle, Mike Russo, was on his way to the apartment to visit his nephew when he saw two men running down the block.

At the time, Russo had no idea the men were running from his nephew's apartment.

"I didn't connect it until I seen the door open and I ran up and seen the blood in the kitchen. I ran back down screaming for somebody to call the police," he said.

Investigators said there was blood everywhere. It appeared that DiMattio had put up a fight, and his pet dog, Dutchie, may also have been trying to fight off the attackers.

"One had a bloody head that was gushing blood and the other one was pretty much bloodied up himself," said Russo. "The one kid did get bit by the dog that was up there."

The men were seen fleeing the home with a black duffel bag. The murder left the neighborhood extremely shaken.

"It's terrible. It's real terrible. We're really all shocked about it cause this is a real nice quiet neighborhood," said Joe Accardo.

For his part, Russo said his nephew did not deserve to die in the horrible way he did.

"We need to get these two people off the street now before they do it to someone else. And people need to stand up. People need to come together. Not only because it's my nephew, but people need to come together because it's getting out of hand," said Russo.

The two assailants are described as two black men about 19 to 22 years of age. One stands five-foot-four, while the other is five-foot-seven. One wore dungaree shorts and white t shirt, while the other had dungaree shorts and red shirt.

Anyone with information on their whereabouts is being asked to call the homicide division of the Philadelphia Police.

(Copyright 2007 by Action News and 6abc. All Rights Reserved.)

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