FILE 360 / 4 February 2023 / 69 MIN / express

Meth, Meat, Money & Murder

Fallsington, PennsylvaniaListen

The town

N ↑Public placeTown centre (approximate places)
Static locations; no street basemap. Places and details. OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles Data from OpenStreetMap.

"This is Falsington, Pennsylvania... it's in eastern Pennsylvania outside Philly, like 40 minutes outside Philly... it's inside of a town called Falls Township... it's in Bucks County" about 0:02:59

History, in brief

1663

The Bucks County courthouse was established in 1663 and was located in Fallsington.

about 0:04:10

Town note

In the 1860s the business directory listed blacksmiths, butchers, carpenters, a carriage builder, a cooper, farmers, insurance agents, machinists and physicians.

about 0:04:38

Town note

The town also had a wheelwright, a maker of wheels.

about 0:05:31
All 4 history facts

1663

The Bucks County courthouse was established in 1663 and was located in Fallsington.

about 0:04:10

Town note

In the 1860s the business directory listed blacksmiths, butchers, carpenters, a carriage builder, a cooper, farmers, insurance agents, machinists and physicians.

about 0:04:38

Town note

The town also had a wheelwright, a maker of wheels.

about 0:05:31

The figures, as told

Money

Median home valueabout $250,000
Median household incomeabout $78,000
All figures and comparisons, as told in 2023

Population

"about 17,000"

No direction stated.

As told in 2023 about 0:03:47

Median home price

"about $250,000"

Comparison: "a little bit lower than normal". Direction: below.

As told in 2023 about 0:03:58

Median household income

"about $78,000"

Comparison: "higher". Direction: above.

As told in 2023 about 0:04:04

The reviews

2.8 / 5 · average of 4

5 stars

“Lived here most of my life; Pensbury schools are one of the best rated; never experienced any violence and always felt safe; everyone is very friendly.”
about 0:05:47

3 stars

“No air moves around where we live, hot humid days are killers, but when it snows they jump right on ploughing and salting, and when the power was knocked out they worked really fast to get it back up.”
about 0:06:20

2 stars

“I hate where I live, I would never live here again, and the people are rude as well as the kids.”
about 0:07:27

1 star

“There are close to no people around here to exercise and almost no places to go around here to exercise.”
about 0:08:02

In Pennsylvania

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  3. The Serial Killing NerdBridgeport, Pennsylvania · 30 May 202446 km / 29 miShow on map
  4. The Horny Teacher's LoungeUpper Merion Township, Pennsylvania · 13 July 202349 km / 30 miShow on map
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The story

In the summer of 1980 Fallsington, Pennsylvania, a small town in Bucks County about forty minutes outside Philadelphia, was home to a butcher shop that sold more than meat.

Any witnesses, including Skip's pregnant wife Lois, had to go too.

Joseph 'Critter' Schwab Jr, 37, and Fred 'Toot' Tweet quoted $1,500 to kill Skip, or $250 to break his legs and elbows.

On the evening of 22 August 1980 Skip and Lois, 21 and pregnant, parked at the Dunkin' Donuts across the street from the market. Skip got out with a baseball bat. Parale had no connection to any of it; he was a friend of the man who lived in the downstairs apartment.

Thompson went to the police after two months, and Critter and Toot also talked; Critter was expelled from the Breed for snitching.

Skip, Lois and her baby survived.

The case

Murder of James Parale

Victims

James Parale (27). friend of the man who lived in the downstairs apartment, watching the Friday night fights; shot in the head and killed instantly
Albert 'Skip' Kellett Jr. (27). childhood friend and meth customer; shot in the head and survived
Lois Kellett (21). Skip's pregnant wife; shot in the neck and wrist and survived

Accused and outcomes

As told in the episode, on 4 February 2023.

Accused

Accused

Accused

Outcome

Other people

Albert Kellett Sr.. Skip's father; ran the Kellett family market and mentored
Billy Hays. meat market employee who lived next door to Skip; asked whether he could shoot him from his bedroom window
Fred 'Toot' Tweet. member of the Breed; took $250 to break Skip's legs and elbows and kept the money
Michael Thompson. 22; drove around on the night; went to the police after two months and testified
Valorie Lynch. girlfriend; lied for him at first, then testified
David Evans. friend of and who had a hunting rifle
Ted Camera. tenant in an apartment owned by family
Tom Easterwood. sold the .25 calibre handgun for $75

The timeline

  1. 1953 Albert 'Skip' Kellett Jr. is born.about 0:14:38
  2. 1955 is born.about 0:13:00
  3. 1955 is born in Egypt and later raised in New Jersey.about 0:18:13
  4. mid-1960s , aged 10 to 12, apprentices as a butcher's boy at the Kellett family market. (Kellett family market)about 0:13:06
  5. 1975 Albert Kellett Sr. sells the store. (Kellett family market)about 0:16:18
  6. between 1975 and 1980 rents the store himself and runs it as his own grocery store. (Kellett family market)about 0:17:02
  7. 1979 and meet and open Quality Meat Market, financed by the family. ('s Quality Meat Market)about 0:19:04
  8. early June 1980 Skip buys $150 worth of meth from . ('s Quality Meat Market)about 0:24:26
  9. a few days later Skip, furious that the meth is inferior, lures to his apartment, threatens him with a club and robs him of the new drugs and $64 or $104. (Skip Kellett's apartment)about 0:26:08
  10. a few days later At the meat market tells that Skip must be killed, and that any witnesses, including Lois, must go too. ('s Quality Meat Market)about 0:28:29

Places and phrases

N ↑Public placeTown centre (approximate places)
Static locations; no street basemap. Places and details. OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles Data from OpenStreetMap.

Places in the story

Public places are marked on the map.

Heard in this episode