Sex in the Suburbs: The Death of Ashley Burg

Two 8-Balls

David F. Downey

At around 10:30 p.m. on that same Saturday night, David F. Downey, 52, called David Schrandt, 25. Downey wanted Schrandt to get him a girl and some cocaine.

Downey, a technology consultant for KSR Associates, worked with government agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, as well as with private companies, offering advice on strategy and planning. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, he has a reputation for being "blunt" in his business dealings. Some people considered him a bully.

He wears a Navy SEAL tattoo and has bragged about his exploits with that elite combat unit. At times he has also claimed to have worked as a CIA operative. His resume lists graduate degrees from Temple University, MIT, and the University of Pennsylvania, but offices at Temple have no record of Downey ever having done graduate work there. A divorced father, Downey lived in a half-million-dollar ranch-style home on Henry Drive in upscale Limerick Township, Pennsylvania, 34 miles northwest of Philadelphia.

Downey's home

According to the police, one of Downey's favorite nighttime haunts was a strip club in the Port Richmond section of Philadelphia called Tattle Tales South. The club is owned and run by several former Philadelphia police officers who were accused and acquitted of shaking down local drug dealers. The name, Tattle Tales, is a wry reference to the government witnesses who testified against them. The management of Tattle Tales South forbids their exotic dancers from engaging in prostitution on the premises or soliciting johns while working there. The dancers cannot even speak on their cellphones while they're on a shift. But despite this strict policy, David Downey had managed to make contact with Kim Victorine, 23, one the regular dancers at Tattle Tales South, on 15 prior occasions. Victorine was David Schrandt's boyfriend. But on this night, Downey didn't want to be with Victorine. He wanted someone different.