Ten chilling homicide cases in the Philadelphia region will be featured in an upcoming true crime series that digs up archival footage and reveals how investigators worked to bring justice to the victims' families.
"Philly Homicide," premiering Oct. 26 on Oxygen, explores its cases in hourlong episodes that include interviews with detectives and people close to the deceased. The series is narrated by Lt. Chris McMullin, of the Bucks County Sheriff's Office, who began his career as a Philadelphia police officer and later spent decades as a detective with the Bensalem Police Department.
MORE: Panera Bread settles lawsuit with family of Penn student who died after drinking Charged Lemonade
"I wanted to honor the victims of the families and show how hard law enforcement works," McMullin said. "I wanted to show how dedicated the detectives are, how they dig in, and how at times they take it very personally. They're relentless in their cause to try and solve these cases."
The crimes featured on "Philly Homicide" span the last few decades, including several murders that occurred in recent years. Some episodes contain footage from investigations and others use cinematic recreations to help tell the stories. Oxygen put out a trailer for the new series last week.
'It's a tearjerker'
McMullin was involved in one of the investigations profiled on the show's third episode, "A Minute Changes Everything." The case centers on the murder of Dr. James Sowa, a 64-year-old chiropractor who was bludgeoned to death at his home office in Bensalem on the morning of Nov. 2, 2020.
Sowa was killed by Joseph O'Boyle, a disgruntled patient who had shown up at the office without an appointment because he was enraged over the worsening of his jaw pain following prior treatment from Sowa, prosecutors said. Investigators tied O'Boyle to the crime scene using surveillance video from nearby properties that showed him entering and leaving Sowa's home. Police were then able to use O'Boyle's license plate to figure out where he lived.
McMullin and his longtime partner, retired Detective David Nieves, were among the investigators who went to O'Boyle's home to serve a search warrant eight days after Sowa was killed. O'Boyle was 23 at the time and living with his parents, who allowed Nieves and a few others to enter the home.
"We didn't want to send too many people in," McMullin said. "Dave had a unique connection to the case because when we developed (O'Boyle) as our suspect, Dave knew him. Dave coached Joey O'Boyle on his basketball team when he was younger. He knew both Joey and his parents."
Within minutes of entering the home, O'Boyle "lunged" at Nieves and "repeatedly and violently punched him" before other officers intervened, according to a grand jury presentment. Prosecutors said they found a half-packed suitcase in O'Boyle's bedroom. He was arrested for assaulting Nieves and was charged months later with killing Sowa. O'Boyle was convicted of third degree murder and other offenses. He was sentenced to 37 to 74 years in state prison.
McMullin recalled going to the hospital with Nieves the night of the assault, which was captured on body-camera footage that's shown in the episode.
"All of a sudden, I remembered hearing screaming. I was like, 'What the hell is going on in there?' (Nieves) was banged up," McMullin said. "He had been in two police shootings in his career. But in 30 years, that was one of the few times that I actually saw Dave was shaken up and shocked."
McMullin said the episode about Sowa also stands out because his family agreed to be interviewed for the series.
"It's a tearjerker," he said. "It allows them to just talk about what happened. They wanted to be able to tell everybody how good of a man their husband and father was. I just think it allows people to say, 'This is who he was to us.' Obviously, if we were to contact a family about profiling a case involving their loved one, there are times people don't want to be involved. Of course, we respect that and we move on."
Technology changes the playing field
McMullin said law enforcement has made leaps forward in solving crimes with the help of technology, but that it also creates new methods of crime and hurdles to accessing evidence.
"There are cameras everywhere now," he said. "At the same time, sometimes there might be evidence on a cellphone, but they're very difficult to get into if you don't have the code. Technology has definitely changed the playing field."
One of the most important breakthroughs in recent years has been the advancement of forensic genetic genealogy, which uses DNA to help identify both victims and offenders. The method was credited last year with helping Philadelphia police identify the child known for decades as the "Boy in the Box," whose remains were found in a cardboard carton in Fox Chase in 1957. The progress in technology ultimately could help police identify the boy's killer, and it has increasingly been used to narrow down suspects in violent crimes.
"You could have an offender's blood at the scene and essentially, with the right financial resources and help, you can build a family tree and figure out who you're looking for," McMullin said.
"Philly Homicide" expands on Oxygen's earlier "New York Homicide" series, which premiered two years ago to highlight the work of investigators on crimes there.
Oxygen's first episode of "Philly Homicide" will examine the 2001 killing of Chester Police Cpl. Michael Beverly, who was fatally shot by a member of the city's Boyle Street Boys gang. In that case out of Delaware County, convicted killer Maurice Day shot Beverly because members of the gang had "teased, taunted and ridiculed" him about the officer's romantic relationship with Day's mother, prosecutors said. Day was sentenced to life in prison.
New episodes of "Philly Homicide" will air every Saturday at 9 p.m. during the show's 10-episode run. They'll also be posted on Oxygen's website the day after they air. The network also has apps to watch its shows on Roku, Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV.