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Philadelphia-Area DJ Bludgeoned, Shot To Death By Girlfriend's Family Who Thought He Was "Too Old"
Alberto Martino, 54, was found lying in a pool of blood outside the radio station where he was a disc jockey after wrapping his show. He had "serious wounds around the head."
On September 6, 1989, the quiet Philadelphia suburb of Abington Township, Pennsylvania — where violent crime was uncommon, according to area law enforcement — was shocked by a brutal murder.
Alberto Martino, 54, was found lying in a pool of blood outside the radio station where he was a disc jockey.
It was 11:30 p.m., and Martino had just wrapped his show. He was dead when police arrived.
John Livingood, then a detective lieutenant with the Abington Township Police Department, recalled the unsettling scene.
“We observed serious wounds around the head,” he said in the “When the Music Died” episode of Philly Homicide, airing Saturdays at 9/8c p.m. on Oxygen. “They were caused by a heavy object.”
Who was Alberto Martino?
After deejaying for 15 years on Philadelphia radio, Martino was “the most well-known Latin disc jockey in the city,” a local news station reported at the time.
A presence in people’s homes through his work, Martino was “much loved,” said Erin Kennedy, then an investigative reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer. “He did a Puerto Rican music show on Wednesday nights," Kennedy said. "And it went to 11 o'clock at night. And people would call in with their requests. And he was really kind of a minor celebrity.”
Martino was also a beloved family man with children. “Who would want to hurt my dad?” Alberto Martino Jr. recalled wondering. “That was a big question in my head. We all thought the same thing.”
Police seek a motive
Police initially thought that Martino’s murder was a botched robbery. But they reconsidered that explanation when the victim’s wallet was found at the crime scene with cash in it.
Martino’s vehicle had been sabotaged. Air had been let out of a tire, headlights were broken, and wires were cut under the hood.
Police concluded the crime scene was staged. “This wasn’t random... somebody had a very personal issue with Alberto,” said Kevin McCreary, then a detective with the Abington Township Police Department. “He wasn't leaving that parking lot alive.”
DNA and fingerprint evidence was collected from the car and sent to the FBI for analysis to find a match.
Clues from Alberto Martino’s autopsy
The pathologist observed blunt-force trauma to the head. It was believed to have been caused by a rounded bat or bar.
The examiner also found that Martino had been shot in the chest by a .22 caliber hollow-point bullet designed to expand on impact. The evidence supported detectives’ suspicions that the murder was personal.
The shooter “really wanted to make sure that [Martino] was going to the funeral home,” said Ken Clark, a detective at the time with the Abington Township Police Department.
Alberto Martino’s girlfriend interviewed
While awaiting results on DNA and fingerprint evidence, police dug deeper into Martino’s personal life. They interviewed his girlfriend Lydia Alvarez, who was 29.
Investigators discovered that for about a month before her boyfriend was killed, Lydia had been getting ominous, blood-spattered letters from an unknown sender.
The notes, left on her doorstep, weren’t hand-written. They were composed from words cut from magazines and newspapers, and then Xeroxed.
“The letters contained threats,” said Martino’s daughter, Maria Martino Negron. “If Lydia does not leave my father... she was going to take a tearful trip to a funeral home.”
Lydia had split from but was still married to Wilmer Mendez, a police officer. She suspected he might be behind the letters. Mendez and Martino had clashed in the past.
“Wilmer came in voluntarily to the police station. He was professional and cooperative,” said McCreary.
But when Mendez was asked if he'd harmed Martino and if he’d take a polygraph test, McCreary added, “he was done at that point. He got up and left.”
“He didn’t want to give us any information at all, not even an alibi,” said Clark. “He just didn’t want to make any statements.”
Lydia Alvarez’s family questioned
Investigators learned that Lydia’s family members seemed unconcerned about Martino’s murder. They didn’t approve of her relationship with him. “They thought he was way too old for her,” said Livingood.
Detectives focused on Lydia’s relatives, beginning with her brother, Roberto Alvarez, and her first cousin, Miguel Alvarez.
Lydia, her brother and her cousin all agreed to take polygraph tests. All three passed. Mendez remained the prime suspect.
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Police reach out to the public
When the FBI’s forensic results of the fingerprint testing from Martino’s car and the threatening letters came in, investigators faced a setback. They were not a match for Mendez.
Nearly a week into the investigation, Martino was laid to rest. With leads drying up, detectives turned to the community and asked for help.
Two women called to report they took a joyride with two Hispanic males the night before Martino’s murder.
“They spent some time in this parking lot, which turned out to be the scene of the homicide,” said Clark. “[The men] had indicated that they were waiting for someone to show up.”
Upon seeing that one of the men had a gun, one of the women asked why he was carrying a weapon. “He said, ‘Well, I have to kill someone,” said McCreary.
The witnesses said that the men went by the names Mikey and Froggy. Detectives determined that Mikey was Miguel Alvarez, Lydia’s cousin, and Froggy was her brother, Roberto. The women confirmed the identities through a picture lineup.
Miguel and Roberto Alvarez become suspects
Both men had previously passed a polygraph test, which isn’t a definitive tool. Detectives gathered more information on Roberto and Miguel before confronting them.
Lydia shared letters to her that were hand-written by her brother, urging her to get together with Miguel, even though they were first cousins, according to Philly Homicide.
Lydia was reluctant to come forward earlier with the evidence. She was under pressure “not to point the finger at a family member,” said Livingood.
The suspects were questioned by police. Miguel denied any wrongdoing, even when police confronted him with evidence they had from the two witnesses.
Roberto Alvarez confesses to killing Alberto Martino
Roberto initially denied any involvement in the murder, but eventually cracked. He indicated that he and Miguel despised Martino because they didn't like him dating Lydia.
“He said the two of them decided the only way to solve this problem was to get rid of Martino,” said Clark.
On the night of the murder, they went to the radio station. Miguel had a metal bar partially wrapped in electrical tape, and Roberto had a gun, said Clark. They tampered with Martino’s car so he couldn’t drive away.
Roberto said that when Martino approached his car, they ambushed him. Miguel hit him with the bar “five times,” said Livingood. “When he was down, Froggy said he shot him.”
Roberto “Froggy” was arrested on the spot. Miguel “wouldn’t say a word,” said McCreary. He was also arrested.
On April 6, 1990, both men went on trial for murder. After six days, Roberto and Miguel were found guilty. They were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
To learn more about the case featured in "When the Music Died,” watch Philly Homicide, airing new episodes on Saturdays at 9/8c p.m. on Oxygen.
