The name, Michele Burgen, may be strange to some people. They have never heard of her. For others, it is a name that lives in infamy.
Although the official reason for her killing remains an unsolved mystery, the streets have long blamed the Philly Black Mafia, which is affiliated with the Nation of Islam, for Burgen’s death.
According to reports, Burgen was on vacation and planning to visit her parents in California, but she first made a stop in New York. Her mother, Louise Burgen, told media her daughter said she was going to a convention in Philadelphia, but Burgen’s boyfriend, Michael Seay, said she had plans to meet with Ernest Edwards, who was a member of the Philly Black Mafia.
Seay said Edwards had expressed interest in starting community newspapers in Philadelphia and Chicago and wanted Burgen to serve as the editor, according to “hearsay” as reported by Gramho. There were also rumors that Burgen was actually a drug courier who’d messed up a package and the Philly Black Mafia suspected her of wearing a wire. However, this has never been officially proven.
Upon arrival in New York, Burgen rented a car at LaGaurdia Airport and had plans to drive to Philly. She never reached the ‘City of Brotherly Love’ and her body was discovered in an airport parking lot with a bullet wound in the back of the head.
Detective Richard Beck said the murderer, “took great pains to cover his tracks” and detectives found no concrete evidence to solve the case. Another officer identified as Detective Goodheart said Burgen was very paranoid the last few weeks of her life.
Burgen was the sister of actress Denise Nicholas, who sank into a deep, immobilizing depression after her murder. She was mourned by many readers, the staff at Ebony and the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ).
