Woman 'ringleader' of gang who kept four disabled people chained in dungeon had served eight years in jail for starving man to death

Three men, one woman found behind steel door

Officers heard noises that sounded like a dog

Police believe they were kidnapped for their social security cheques



Two men and woman charged with kidnap and assault



The ringleader of a gang charged with chaining four malnourished mentally disabled adults in a basement previously served eight years for starving someone to death, it has been revealed.

Linda Ann Weston, 51, the alleged ringleader behind the Philiadelphia 'house of horror chain dungeon,' was convicted of starving Bernardo Ramos 25, to death after he reufes to support her sister's unborn child, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.



Three people were charged yesterday following the discovery of four malnourished mentally disabled adults chained to a boiler in a locked Philadelphia basement that reeked of waste from the buckets they used to relieve themselves, police said today.

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'Ringleader': Linda Ann Weston, 51, is one of three suspects accused of detaining four mentally disabled people

Charged: Thomas Gregory, 47, (left) and Eddie Wright, 49, (right) are also accused of stealing the victims' Social Security checks

Officers were investigating a report of squatters in a building yesterday when they found three men and a woman in a 15-by-15-foot room behind a steel door that was chained shut.

Thomas Gregory, 47, Eddie Wright, 49, and Weston, were arrested in connection to the horrific discovery as it emerged that the victims may have been kidnapped for their Social Security cheques.

Charges of criminal conspiracy, aggravated assault, kidnapping, criminal trespass, unlawful restraint, false imprisonment and related offences were filed on Sunday against the trio.

Gregory is reportedly from Philadelphia, while Wright is officially listed as homeless but originally from Texas. Listed numbers for the defendants could not be found on Sunday and it was unclear whether they had attorneys.

Federal charges could also be added, Lt Raymond Evers told The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Restraints: A police officer carries out the chains which were used to bound some of the prisoners to the 'dungeon'

Shocking find: Police say the four people, three men and a woman, were in a bad condition when they were found at the house in Philadelphia

'We're going to find every crime possible in the crime code to put on these individuals,' Evers said.

Police are investigating the possibility that the suspects were trying to make money through access to the victims' Social Security or disability checks, police spokesman Tanya Little said. It was not clear how the suspects know the victims - a 29-year-old female and three males, aged 31 to 41.

Police said while officers were in the basement of the eight-unit apartment building, they heard a noise behind a locked steel door that sounded as if a dog was behind it. The door was opened to reveal four people in a room not tall enough for an adult to stand up straight in.

Chains: The door and at least one of the prisoners were held in these

Detectives went on the hunt for the people who held them captive and uncovered a human trafficking case which possibly started in Texas, made a stop in Florida, and ended up in Philadelphia.

The subbasement room the victims were in called to mind a Cold War-era bomb shelter and contained a makeshift bed, mattress and sheets, according to Little.

The low-ceiling room contained a mattress with some bedding and a flat board with a pillow, and a boiler.

There were a few water bottles but no food and a bucket to urinate in.

'It was horrible. The space was very tiny and confined,' Little added.

On Saturday night, evidence technicians carted out several feet of chains from the basement of the apartment building on the 4700 of Longshore Avenue in Northeast Philadelphia.

The people found were malnourished with bedsores and surrounded by deplorable conditions and two dogs.

Despicable: Philadelphia Police Deputy Commissioner Richard Ross said the place they were being held captive could only be described as a dungeon

Nightmare discovery: The back of the run-down apartment building where the four people were found locked behins a steel door in the basement

Standing guard: An officer at the door of the eight-unit apartment building after police declared the area a crime scene

THE DAUGHTER HELD CAPTIVE FOR 24 YEARS

The Philadelphia house of horrors brought back immediate memories of the horrifying Josef Fritzl case, in which he kept his daughter Elisabeth Fritzl captive for 24 years. She was held in a concealed part of the basement of the family home in Amstetten, Austria. The case emerged in April 2008 when Elizabeth told police how she had been physically assaulted, sexually abused and raped many times.

The incestuous relationship forced upon her by her father resulted in the birth of seven children and one miscarriage. Fritzl, now 76, was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for 15 years. He is serving his time in a section of an Austrian prison for the criminally insane.



One emergency responder overheard some of the captives say they were handing over their government checks to a caretaker.

The victims have the mental capacity of 10-year-olds, police said. They were taken to a hospital for treatment and listed in stable condition. Little said the victims, whose names were not released, appeared to have no physical problems other than malnourishment.

Little said that getting information from the victims had been difficult due to their disability, but they apparently had been brought to Philadelphia about ten days before they were found. They had apparently been in West Palm Beach, Florida, and before that in Texas, she said.

They are thought to have been held captive for more than a year.

Philadelphia Police Deputy Commissioner Richard Ross said: 'This case just makes you shake your head; it's despicable and unspeakable.

When you look at the conditions under which they were kept, it's something out of a dungeon actually.'

Joan Sendef, who lives several blocks away, told the Philly News: 'You think you've seen it all.

'When it lands in your front door, it's really heartbreaking. It's so sad - these are human beings.'

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