Meet Me on Madison

Thursday night around 8 o'clock, after calling to meet Tommy Holmes, Officer Joe Osinski is cruising down Madison Street with his driver-side window rolled down. He's actively listening for a shout from Tommy. The street is "dimly lit", so he's purposely focusing -- purposely watching for movement on the sidewalk, or a wave from the street.

McKeesport Police Officer Joseph Osinski is actively looking. He sees nothing.

It's not raining. There's no snow or fog, and there are no other cars moving along the narrow, bumpy road. It's a quiet evening, on a quiet back street that opens directly on to a very quiet graveyard.

Joe Osinski called Tommy Holmes at 8:05 and headed to the 600 block of Madison Street -- by 8:09, Tommy Holmes was dead.



What Osinski Noticed

Osinski reports he heard three young, female screams, saw a resident at 637 Madison slam his front door, and noticed a motionless body in front of that door.

What Osinski Didn't Notice

Witness #3 heard several gunshots ring out -- four or five -- then a moment's pause, followed by another blast of multiple shots.

Osinski reports hearing no gunfire.

Witness #1 heard the first shots and insists Tommy, already wounded in the leg, ran down Madison screaming bloody murder. Osinski doesn't report that at all.

Coming down the sidewalk, Tommy, using the plural form, was yelling out and identifying his killers. "Help me! They're trying to shoot me!" Witness #1 is sure he heard Tommy scream that, because his response was to slam the door in fear for his family's safety.

Slam!

And immediately, Witness #1 hears the second round of bullets at his door.

Officer Osinski -- who was listening and looking specifically for Tommy -- does not witness several gunshots immediately following the door slam. Osinski only witnesses the slam.



Hearing Aid

Osinski claims he heard 3 young, female screams. What he heard was the young daughter of the resident at 637 Madison, who screamed in response to the wounded and screaming man at her door. If Osinski heard the young girl's cries, he must have heard Tommy crying, "Help me! They're trying to shoot me!"



Eyes Wide Shut

Osinski saw Witness #1 standing in his door at 637 and saw the door slam, why didn't he see the shooter?

The shooter waited for the door to shut, that explains why the resident didn't see the gunman, but Osinski has no excuse. The autopsy reveals that 3 bullets were fired into the victim's head from so close a range, residue was left on the face.

If Osinski saw the motionless body at the door, he must've seen the shooter on top of the body.

McKeesport Police Officer Joseph Osinski was actively looking. He saw nothing?



Call and Response

Osinski declares he heard no gunfire, and yet the officers who responded to his radio for assistance report they were responding to multiple shots fired. When they got to Madison at 8:09, Tommy Holmes was already dead.

Who alerted the two very speedy officers that there were shots fired? It had to have been Joe Osinski, who impossibly maintains he never heard any gunfire -- only three screams and a slamming door. He thought he was witnessing a "domestic incident."




Time of Death

Detective Osinski called to go and meet Tommy at 8:05. Where was he calling from? A few minutes away? It's 8:07. He arrives, and hearing the screams, calls in for assistance. 8:08. Responding officers, apparently also very nearby with engines running, arrive at 8:09 to find Joe Osinski kneeling on top of Tommy Holmes whose body and head are riddled with bullets fired from point blank range.

What was Joe Osinski doing between 8:08 and 8:09 just after the door slammed, and just before other officers got to 600 Madison Street?



What Nobody Noticed

Neither Officer Osinski, nor any other witness sees Joseph Rhone with a shiny silver pistol, shooting wildly into the night, chasing Tommy down the street, kneeling over him and shooting several more times, then darting off into the alley.

No one saw that, and the only person who claims it ever happened is Joseph Rhone himself.



False Concession

Joseph Rhone, variously named Joseph Nixon, gave the police a confession, but he did not give them a murder weapon, nor did he give police a convincing motive. Rhone indicated the murder was revenge for an incident from the summer of 2002, but oddly, he couldn't recall exactly what happened or exactly when.



The Half-Sister

Somehow, Rhone wasn't aware that the McKeesport police had already discovered and confirmed his motive. Joseph Rhone's half-sister had been arrested and spent an hour in jail on January 8. County investigators were told on January 9, less than two hours after the shooting, that Tommy had supplied information to authorities which aided in a Braddock woman's brief arrest.

That woman was Rhone's half-sister, and McKeesport Police were sure her vindication was Rhone's motive -- not some vague deal from the previous summer -- and subsequently, Allegheny County investigators questioned Rhone's brother, Yusef, about the arrest.



The Half-Brother

Yusef confirmed that Rhone was angry at Tommy for "setting up" his relative. Rhone had a shiny, silver pistol and wanted revenge for Tommy's ratting out his half-sister, Yusef told police, adding that Rhone knew where Tommy lived.



Unconfirmed Rumors

The speculation that Joseph Rhone killed Tommy in a dramatic, headline-grabbing homicide because Tommy gave information to the police, is a ridiculous notion that can be traced directly back to the McKeesport police.


How would Rhone have any clue about what Tommy was or wasn't doing, or who he "informed" on?

Rhone's half-sister spent an hour in jail on January 8th and twenty-four hours later on January 9, Tommy Holmes was gunned down in the street.

Even if the "informant" rumor is true, how would Rhone have been able to confirm it so quickly?

Practically speaking, only Tommy could confirm such a rumor, but no witnesses report two men on the corner pushing, arguing, and then shooting. According to the police theory, Rhone was deadly sure and raging mad that Tommy spoke to police about his half-sister. He didn't need Tommy's confirmation.

But other than Tommy, only the police themselves could reliably confirm him to be an "informant."



Osinski's Hunch

Sure enough, by 9 o'clock that night, less than an hour after medics pronounced Tommy Holmes dead, a McKeesport Police officer, shared his speculation with County investigators that Tommy Holmes had secretly given police information which resulted in an arrest, and that his murder was probably done in retaliation.

The officer was of course, McKeesport's Joe Osinski, whose early hunch and shrewd deductive reasoning is reminiscent of a different Holmes -- Sherlock Holmes. It is Osinski that prompts the investigation into Joseph Rhone, and Osinski's investigation that later finds a matching bullet in Rhone's house and a talkative witness.



Confession? What Confession?

In the weeks following, Joseph Rhone would offer a completely different motive -- self-defense during a heated argument, in which Tommy, not Rhone, had a shiny silver pistol, and only after wrestling it away, is Rhone forced to fire the gun and kill Tommy. But considering the stalking, hunting and overkilling, the self-defense theory also falls flat.



Spreading the News

Joseph Rhone must not have watched the news that Thursday night, because if he had, he would have known what motive to confess to.

By 11:00, when the story aired on local, KDKA-TV, it was reported that Tommy Holmes was an informant for the police, with the suggestion that his murder was possibly linked to his talking.



The Informant

Who was the source, instantly talking up this "informant" story which, even if true, is a dangerous thing to declare on a televised news program, without really double-checking?

When directly questioned about the newscast, the reporter insisted she had absolute confirmation of Holmes' secret police activity -- but refused to name her source.

She doesn't have to.

The source of the news story is the same as the source of the revenge rumor fed to county investigators -- Detective Joe Osinski.



What Tommy Noticed

Only Officer Osinski or Tommy Holmes could verify such a rumor for the reporter, and we know she didn't talk to Tommy.

Tommy was done talking. His last words?

"Help me. They're trying to shoot me."