A 20-year-old British illegal alien with suspected ties to a transnational criminal organization known as the “Traveling Conman Fraud Group” was shot and killed inside the home of a 75-year-old Vietnam veteran in Philadelphia’s Roxborough neighborhood last Wednesday.
According to the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Center, “Conmen Travelers are groups of Irish or U.K. nationals who entered the United States on pleasure or tourist visas and overstayed their visits or, more commonly, entered the United States illegally. Once in the United States, they go to different cities and states, soliciting construction work.
“The members often quote a low price, and then, after further inspection, demand much more money and/or convince the homeowner that their homes or business are in need of major repairs. Conmen Travelers often hire day laborers; do not have work authorization documents or pull permits; and do low quality, unnecessary, or incomplete work, sometimes damaging homeowners’ residences.”
The deceased, identified as Salis Hanrahan, was part of a construction crew doing siding work on the home when a commotion broke out inside the residence. Police say workers outside heard the disturbance and a gunshot.
Hanrahan then walked out of the home with a gunshot wound to the chest and collapsed on the sidewalk, according to NBC Philadelphia.
The homeowner, George Barr, a retired firefighter, Vietnam veteran, and unofficial neighborhood patrolman according to neighbors, now faces charges of murder, possession of an instrument of crime, and recklessly endangering another person.
He was arraigned and denied bail. Homicide detectives are still investigating the circumstances that led to the shooting inside Barr’s own home.
NBC added that the Department of Homeland Security confirmed Hanrahan was in the United States illegally.
He had been denied ESTA travel authorization due to his affiliation with the “Traveling Conman Fraud Group,” a transnational criminal organization.
ICE and CBP had never encountered him before, meaning he entered and remained in the country without detection despite the red flags.
