Dead Man

Tow worker yesterday prepares to remove burned-out car from Annsbury Street, near Fairhill, in Feltonville, where firefighters found the charred body of a man. The victim was described as between 30 and 40 years old.

Dead Man isn't deadpan. The least ironic of Jim Jarmusch's movies is a spacey, psychedelic western (black and white, courtesy of the great cinematographer Robby Muller) in which a Cleveland accountant boards a train, ventures west and winds up in the company of a profane Blood-and-Blackfoot Indian - the two of them embarking on a symbol-laden spiritual journey, pursued by lawmen, bounty hunters and a gunslinging cannibal. The accountant, who wears a bow tie, a bowler, and a fancy plaid suit when he detrains in the wild, woolly town of Machine, is named William Blake, and the Native American - whose name is Nobody - believes this young man to be the visionary English poet and artist.

Hatfield police were trying to confirm the identity of a man who was hit and killed Friday night as he walked across Route 309. Officer Robert Turner, who is in charge of the investigation, said he hadn't been able to locate the man's next of kin. The man, believed to be homeless and in his 60s, was wearing dark clothes when he tried to cross the highway near Janes Lane about 9:40 p.m., police said. He was hit by a southbound 1984 Oldsmobile driven by Laurie Abrams, 27, of White Plains, N.Y. Police said Abrams attempted to avoid the man by swerving to the left, but didn't see him in time to avoid hitting him. The man was thrown 35 feet into the air after impact.

A dead man can run for political office. Montgomery County Court Judge Richard S. Lowe ruled yesterday that Republican voters in Upper Providence Township deserve the right to choose Tuesday between two candidates for supervisor - one living, one dead. Lowe ordered that the name of J. Robert Kershner, who died May 5 of a heart attack, stay on the GOP primary ballot. Lowe refused to heed arguments by a lawyer for Howard P. Huber Jr., Kershner's opponent for the nomination, that Kershner's name be covered on the town's eight voting machines.

"Dead Man Out" (10 p.m Sunday on HBO) puts your head in a box and squeezes it hard. What can you expect, after all, from a movie in which 80 percent of the action takes place on death row? Tension city, as your president would no doubt say. Your senses may feel constricted, but your mind will be loosened up by this story of Alex Marsh (Danny Glover), a prison psychiatrist charged with making quadruple-murderer Ben (Ruben Blades) "mentally competent" enough for the state to put him to death.

For five days, a Northeast Philadelphia man lay dead on the floor of his snowbound car, parked on busy Castor Avenue directly in front of Woodrow Wilson Middle School. A curious cop finally noticed the body yesterday. Milorad Aranicky, 67, a frail man with a history of heart disease and emphysema, died of natural causes days ago, authorities said. While his wife thought he was away in the mountains with a friend, his body lay crumpled on the front floor of his brown 1984 Dodge 600, authorities said.

Philadelphia police yesterday found the bullet-riddled body of a 21-year-old man who was sitting inside a car parked in the driveway of a home in West Philadelphia. Sgt. William Gallagher identified the man as Raheem Ellis and said he lived near 1400 N. 56th St., where his body was found around 2 a.m. Police were called after receiving a report of shots being fired. Ellis was shot multiple times with a 9mm handgun, police said. He was pronounced dead at Hahnemann University Hospital.

The third and final defendant arrested last year for stealing a watch from the wrist of a dead man in a hospital waiting room pleaded guilty this morning. Richard Alten, 45, pleaded guilty to theft and conspiracy charges and was sentenced to 30 months of reporting probation and drug and alcohol screening by Common Plead Judge Adam Beloff. Co-defendants Jannira Walker, 22, and Martin Smith, 42, earlier this year pleaded guilty to the same charges and received similar sentences, said Assistant District Attorney Jill Fertel.

Police were investigating the death of a man whose body was found yesterday afternoon next to his smashed-up car about 25 feet under a River Road overpass. Investigators found a wallet at the scene but had not positively identified the man last night. Police described him as a white male about 40 years old. Montgomery County Coroner Halbert E. Fillinger Jr. said he had been tentatively identified as a man from the Norristown area. Police said a young man riding his dirt bike discovered the body about 4 p.m. lying between the dark-blue sedan's left front fender and the concrete abutment of the overpass.

The third and final defendant arrested last year in the theft of a watch from the wrist of a dead man in a hospital waiting room in Northeast Philadelphia pleaded guilty yesterday. Richard Alten, 45, admitted his guilt on theft and conspiracy charges and was sentenced to 30 months of reporting probation and drug and alcohol screening by Common Pleas Judge Adam Beloff. Co-defendants Jannira Walker, 22, and Martin Smith, 42, earlier this year pleaded guilty to the same charges and received similar sentences, said Assistant District Attorney Jill Fertel.

IN AN EERIE TWIST of fate, an 18-year-old was gunned down Monday afternoon on an East Frankford corner, steps away from where scenes from "Dead Man Down," a mob thriller starring Colin Farrell , was scheduled to be filmed Tuesday morning. At least six shots rang out at Tackawanna and Kinsey streets about 4 p.m., just after the youth stepped outside a corner grocery store, cops said. He was hit three times in the torso and staggered about half a block to the Kinsey and Ditman streets before collapsing.

Man's body found in abandoned house * Salford Street near Market, West Philadelphia A passer-by made a gruesome discovery in West Philadelphia Sunday night, police said, after finding a dead man inside an abandoned house. Cops said the body of the man, who appeared to be in his 30s, was found at 7:16 p.m. inside the living room, and he was pronounced dead by medics at the scene at 7:30 p.m. He had three gunshot wounds, cops said - one in his chest, one in his left side and one in his right knee.

A 31-year-old man was shot and killed early today during an argument in the entranceway to his apartment building in Philadelphia's West Oak Lane section, police said. The victim, whom police identified as Quasay Johnson, left his apartment and went to the vestibule of the building on the 7000 block of N. 15th Street about 12:30 a.m. after receiving a phone call, police said. Witnesses told police they heard some men arguing and then a round of gunfire. The victim was shot three times in the chest and once in an arm, police said.

COLIN FARRELL has been hanging out around Rittenhouse Square while in preproduction on "Dead Man Down. " The mob drama, which begins shooting at month's end, co-stars Noomi Rapace , the Swedish actress who starred in the original "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" and its sequels. Terrence Howard was also recently added to the cast of the film which is to be shot here but set in New York. Don't expect to see the reformed bad boy Farrell out partying. The Irishman, now a father of two, says he's been sober for nearly seven years and told Ellen DeGeneres recently about his fondness for yoga and spinning.

A man and woman were shot dead overnight inside The Corral, a West Philadelphia bar with a history of violence under the Market Street El. Police said a man walked into the small tavern and opened fire about 1:30 a.m., hitting the victims. Relatives this morning indentified the dead man as Troy Wimberely, 38, a father of four from West Philadelphia. The woman's identity is not yet known. Chief Inspector Scott Small told reporters that police are searching for a light-skinned, heavy-set male in his 30s, who has beard and was wearing a striped polo shirt.

A North Philadelphia man was killed Sunday night outside a corner grocery store as he tried to catch a man who had just shot the store owner. Police described 26-year-old Rafael Santiago DelValle as the "Good Samaritan" in a robbery at La Familia Latina, a mini-mart in the 3500 block of North Fifth Street. Police had initially identified the dead man as a bandit involved in the shooting, but investigators said Monday that DelValle was in fact the victim and a friend of the store owner.

Police are investigating a robbery at a North Philadelphia bodega that left one man dead and the store owner wounded Sunday night. Police had initially said the dead man was a bandit who had been hit in a shootout with the store owner, but investigators said today he was friend of the wounded merchant. The gun-wielding bandit, identified as Edward Friedland, 26, entered the La Familia Latina, a minimarket on the 3599 block of North Fifth Street, about 8:25 p.m., police said.

An armed-robbery suspect was killed by police after he fired shots at them in the city's Olney section Tuesday evening, police said. The man, who was not immediately identified, was in the 5400 block of North Second Street when he fired several shots at three Highway Patrol officers, who returned fire, police said. The gunfire could be heard on a police scanner at 6:11. The gunman was pronounced dead at the scene. Two armed robberies had earlier been reported nearby, at Fourth Street and Chew Avenue and in the 400 block of Delphine Street.

Detectives on Monday were investigating the discovery of the body of a 23-year-old man inside a minivan in South Philadelphia. Police were called to 10th and Jackson Streets at 5:23 a.m. Sunday on a report of a foul odor emanating from a green 2000 Mazda MPV minivan. In the backseat, they found a man's body, wrapped in a blanket. Medics pronounced him dead at the scene, police said. His death is considered suspicious, but not yet considered a homicide, authorities said. Investigators have not identified the dead man. - Sam Wood