‘HEARTBROKEN’
Seven years later, victim’s family awaits answers in Chester murder mystery:
“Every lead we have, we’ve exhausted. But nothing is ever closed or ‘cold,’ so every time we’re down in that neighborhood, I always ask – and so do all of us ask – if anyone ever talks about it.”
— Delaware County Detective William Gordon
Saturday marked seven years since 25-year-old chemical engineer Dino Dizdarevic was found beaten and strangled in a Chester alley, but there are no new leads in the case and his family can now only hope that someone with information will step forward to help solve his murder.
“Every lead we have, we’ve exhausted,” said Delaware County Detective William Gordon, the lead on the case with Chester Detective Joseph McFate. “But nothing is ever closed or ‘cold,’ so every time we’re down in that neighborhood, I always ask – and so do all of us ask – if anyone ever talks about it.”
Dizdarevic was discovered at about 7 a.m. May 1, 2014, in an alley behind homes in the 900 block of Parker Street, less than a month before his 26th birthday. The Delaware County Medical Examiner’s office ruled the death a homicide, caused by multiple blunt-force injuries to his head and asphyxiation.
Investigators at the time described the killing as “vicious,” noting Dizdarevic had been beaten so badly that it was difficult to identify the remains. There was no wallet on the body, and Gordon said his wallet and credit cards have never been found.
Dizdarevic’s phone was found about two blocks away from the scene, said Gordon, but yielded no information.
“It took us a while to get into his phone because it was so new at the time, but he had synced his phone with his computer and we already had his computer, so nothing new was gained from his phone,” Gordon said.
Dizdarevic fled war-torn Bosnia with his parents and sister in 1993, landing in Richmond, Ky., where they were sponsored by a local church. He graduated from the University of Louisville with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and moved to Philadelphia with his boyfriend, Nick McBee, to take a job as an operational excellence manager at Stepan Company in New Jersey in September 2013.
“It’s a real, real shame what happened, to die violently on the streets of the United States after escaping what happened over there (in Bosnia),” said Gordon. “I wish we did have more, but every time we’re down in that area or in Chester, we always ask anybody that has an association with that neighborhood, ‘What’s going on? What’s going on?’ We keep asking, we keep hoping somebody will come forward, that somebody saw something, heard something, and wants to come forward and tell us.”
Dizdarevic was planning to fly home to visit his family May 1, but never came home from a meet-up the night before. His mother, Jadranka Dizdarevic, said her son was coming home to celebrate his grandmother’s birthday, as well as his own 26th birthday early, and to see his friends at university.
“Like all young people, they just go with life on their own, but he was one who was always having in his plans in the future, his parents, his family,” said Jadranka, for whom English is a second language. “His plans have always time for us and we have so much laughter in the house. We were so happy and all this happiness is just gone.”
She described her son as a warm, gentle soul who was gifted in math and science with a bright future ahead of him, a future that was robbed by an unknown person or persons.
“He was a very loving person,” she said. “He wouldn’t hurt anybody. He would shelter any friends who need shelter, feed whoever needs food. When he comes in a room with his smile, everything is brightened. He was just a wonderful and good person who didn’t deserve what they did to him.”
McBee previously told investigators that the couple had an open relationship and that Dizdarevic was going to meet with someone he’d met on a gay meet-up site the night of April 30. McBee became concerned when his boyfriend did not return home and filed a missing persons report with the Philadelphia police on May 1. Gordon said the man Dizdarevic was going to meet that night did not
“We just hope that somebody will feel sad for what happened and their conscience will start working and say, ‘Oh yes, we need to do this and tell the truth.’ I know we can’t bring Dino back, we will be hurt forever, but at least we can be a voice for him.”
— Jadranka Dizdarevic
have any information about the case.
“The person he was going to meet was very, very cooperative with us, but he said they never met,” Gordon said. “The meeting location was his house on Parker Street, and during the conversation that gentleman said, ‘I changed my mind about it and I didn’t want to do it anymore and I just never left the house.’ That person doesn’t have a history of violence so it’s a complete mystery what happened.”
Gordon said investigators conducted several search warrants on that man’s house and even searched the house of the people who called in the crime just to be sure they covered every angle, but neither produced anything of evidentiary value.
Investigators were able to track down the cab driver who dropped Dizdarevic off in Chester. Gordon said the driver noted he paid half in cash and half in credit cards, so it was unlikely Dizdarevic had any cash on him.
There is unfortunately no camera footage of Dizdarevic’s activities that night, but Gordon said everything else from McBee, the cab driver, and the man Dizdarevic was supposed to meet matches up. The only mystery remaining is who he actually encountered that night and why he was murdered.
Gordon said he remembers it was pouring rain so hard that night that Route 291 had to be shut down. That also hampered investigators gleaning information from the scene and the body.
“There were no tracks or anything, everything had been washed away,” said Gordon. “There was no DNA evidence whatsoever.”
Dizdarevic’s sister, Una, described her brother last year as a genius, with interests in science and art.
She said he would often use whatever ingredients he could find laying around the house to conduct science experiments (often to their parents’ chagrin, as these could be quite messy).
“I just remember that whenever he made something, he would immediately show me any kind of reaction that we could do at the house, or he would show me whatever he learned,” she said. “He had a huge passion for science and math.”
Una Dizdarevic maintains a Facebook page dedicated to her brother called “Celebrating Dino Dizdaveric.” Though there is little new to report on his case, she previously said she believes police are doing all they can while she keeps his memory alive online.
“It’s just a waiting game at this point,” she said. “He was my confidant and I just want justice for him. How could anyone take his life from him? The last time we spoke, he was really happy about where he was in life and he had so many plans for the future. I just want justice for him.”
Her mother said she is hoping for the same.
“We’re just heartbroken and there is nothing we can do about it,” she said. “But we’re not losing hope that justice will be served. And of course we don’t want them to destroy another family. We are just trying to pick up the pieces and this hope that we will find justice for Dino just keeps us going somehow.”
Gordon said the family typically comes out to Chester about once a year and detectives have taken them to the scene where Dizdavarec was discovered in the past.
“They’re heartbroken and they’re such a good family, and you can see it in their eyes,” said Gordon. “It’s a real shame. He’s a great guy from a great family and it’s a shame he had to meet his demise that way.”
Jadranka Dizdarevic said the coronavirus pandemic has left the family unable to travel or hold public rallies asking for the public’s help over the past year, but they are still working to keep his memory alive and ask the community to help them find the killer.
“We just hope that somebody will feel sad for what happened and their conscience will start working and say, “Oh yes, we need to do this and tell the truth,’” she said. “I know we can’t bring Dino back, we will be hurt forever, but at least we can be a voice for him.”
Anyone who may have information about the case is urged to contact Chester Detective Joseph McFate at 610-447-8428 or Delaware County Detective William Gordon at 610-891-4700. Tipsters can also call Pennsylvania Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-4PA-TIPS and may be eligible for a cash reward.