News >> Browse Articles >> Crime News

Police Find Cop-Killer's 'Hit List'

Edward Perkovic, 23, of Lawrenceville. (AP Photo)

Richard Poplawski discussed a “hit list” on an Internet radio show in the weeks before he allegedly gunned down three Pittsburgh police officers in an ambush at his Stanton Heights home, according to a police affidavit.

The hit list included a Pittsburgh police officer, a black, a Jew, his ex-girlfriend, her parents and neighbors’ pets, the affidavit states.

Homicide investigators relied on statements provided by Edward Perkovic, 23, of Lawrenceville and his estranged girlfriend, Jocelyn Moffitt, 22, to get permission to search computers used by Poplawski and Perkovic for their radio show, Eddie and Po. The documents were filed this week with Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey A. Manning, who is presiding over Poplawski’s trial for the April 4 slayings.

The affidavits indicate Poplawski was more deeply involved in white supremacist activities than previously disclosed. He posted material on the Web site Stormfront.org and frequently e-mailed racist content to his radio co-host, Perkovic told police.

During one show, Moffitt told investigators, Poplawski said: “‘When the (expletive) hits the fan,’ and that he knew he was going to ‘go down’; and that he has a hit list of which people he is going to take out.”

The show was hosted on PirateRadio.com and linked through a MySpace account controlled by the hosts, the affidavit states.

The slayings of police Officers Eric G. Kelly, Stephen J. Mayhle and Paul J. Sciullo II prompted Perkovic to immediately begin deleting any on-line references to the Eddie and Po show, he told investigators. The officers died while responding to a call for help from Margaret Poplawski, the suspect’s mother, after an argument with her son.

Perkovic told the media after the slayings that he believed Poplawski was motivated because he feared newly elected President Obama would confiscate his firearms.