Drugs, Cash Found Inside Murdered Woman's No. Libs Apartment

A woman and man are found shot to death in apartment building

By VINCE LATTANZIO

Updated 11:18 AM EST, Mon, Jun 29, 2009

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NBC10

New developments in a deadly double shooting inside a trendy Northern Liberties apartment complex may shed light on a motive.

Investigators say they found four kilos of cocaine and more than $100,000 in cash inside the apartment of Rian Thal. She and an unidentified man were gunned down steps from her 7th floor apartment at The Navona at The Piazza on Saturday night.

Police are searching for four suspects who were caught on a surveillance camera just after 6 p.m. Saturday, according to police. The video shows three men running down the hallway after the shootings.

The Navona is one of the apartment buildings connected to the Piazza at Schmidt's at 2nd and Hancock Streets.

Thal, 34, was shot in the head and neck. The man, who was also in his 30s, was shot multiple times, according to police. Authorities are witholding the man's identity until they are able to contact his family.

"It's bad enough we just lost three celebrities, and now a friend," Chris Laine told NBC10.

Laine, one of the Thal's friends, said that the woman had recently moved into the complex and that she was involved in Philadelphia's nightclub scene and managed a local club. Police would not confirm those details.

Police are looking for three armed men and a fourth unarmed person.

For people moving into the same building, like Raymond M., the news was unsettling.

"The thing that makes me concerned is that a lot of people are moving in and you do need security access to get in to this door. But, you know, someone could just slip in when someone's moving in or whatever. I think eventually they're going to have to have a 24-hour guy at the bottom of the building," he said.

The Piazza is developer Bart Blatstein's massive urban renewal project. It's a trendy, new euro-style living, retail and entertainment complex in Northern Liberties. It's also one of nine venues hosting this weekend's Philadelphia Independent Film Festival.