As the supervisor of the Chester Police Department, Corporal Michael “Mike” Beverly has dedicated his life to protecting the residents of this Philadelphia suburb.

Tragically, on October 16, 2001, 36-year-old Beverly was gunned down in Highland Gardens, a crime-ridden neighborhood in Chester, Pennsylvania, run by a notorious drug gang.

Todd Nuttall, a senior detective with the Chester Police Department, now retired, recalled the killing of his friend and colleague. “It was very devastating,” he continued Philly Homicide, aired Saturday at 9 p.m Oxygen.

“You could tell someone was intent on making sure he was dead,” Nuttal added in the show’s “End of Watch” episode.

The fact that it was finally revealed that Beverly’s life ended in a brutal betrayal was even more shocking.

Michael Beverly’s former partner had also been shot Highlands Gardens

On the October 16, 2001 roll call, Beverly warned her team to avoid Highland Gardens as officers were looking for a suspect.

“There was a lot of heat in there,” said Victor Heness, who was a patrol officer with the Chester Police Department at the time.

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Beverly knew the dangers of the neighborhood. His best friend and former partner, Connie Hawkins, was killed in the line of duty there in 1993 when she responded to a call she couldn’t take. Her death haunted him.

Chester police suspected that Rogers had killed Beverly as well and canvassed the neighborhood. No one would talk, for fear of reprisals from the gangs.

After receiving a tip about his location, Rogers was questioned. He denied killing Saunders and Beverly and had to be released.

What Michael Beverly’s phone records revealed

After examining Beverly’s phone records, detectives learned the real reason she had gone to Highland Gardens. He had received a call from the mother of Maurice Day, an 18-year-old he was mentoring.

“She talked to her about trying to stop her son from joining the gang,” he said Homicide in Philly host Chris McMullenwho has decades of experience in various police departments in and around Philadelphia. Beverly had stepped up to keep Day on track.

Beverly’s body was found near the Day home. Day denied involvement in Beverly’s murder. He claimed he was with his girlfriend at the time of the shooting. The young woman confirmed this. Day was cleared as a suspect.

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A tip from an informant led investigators to an abandoned building, where they recovered a .44 magnum revolver.

It was determined to be the weapon that killed Beverly. No fingerprints or DNA evidence was found on the gun.

A “radical” move to get people talking

Months passed and the case stalled. As Highland Park was gripped by fear, the police faced a wall of silence.

“We understood that if you lived in that community, the price of cooperating with us was death,” said Faithe Moore Taylor, a former assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Federal and state law enforcement devised a “radical maneuver,” McMulllin said.

They “knocked on every door in the neighborhood and issued subpoenas to whoever was there,” said now-retired DEA Special Agent Randy Updegraff.

Each witness was to appear in Philadelphia in a safe space where they could speak without fear.

“People were very happy to get lost in the crowd, and that was the point,” Taylor said.

A break in the case

After 10 long months of interviews, the innovative strategy paid off. A witness identified Rogers as the man who killed Saunders. “It was an execution,” Carr said.

In a surprising twist, Rogers eventually surrendered. He admitted his role in Saunders’ murder and was arrested.

But he strongly denied shooting Beverly and refused to name the officer’s killer, adhering to the street code of silence.

“It was always, ‘Don’t talk to the police. Snits get stitches,’” Nuttal said.

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Maurice Day guilty of murdering Michael Beverly

Day was found guilty of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Rogers was sentenced to 42 years in prison for Saunders’ murder.

“Ten more of the Boyle Street Boys received heavy prison terms for drugs and weapons,” McMullen said. “The gang that had terrorized Highland Gardens for so long is now decimated.”

To learn more about these two murder cases, tune in to the “End of Watch” episode of Homicide in Phillywhich is broadcast on Saturdays at 21.00 Oxygen.