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$15,000 Reward Offered In Last Weekend's Beating Murder in Old City

By Tony Hanson

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The City of Philadelphia today posted a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the savage beating death of 23-year-old Kevin Kless early Saturday morning (see related stories).

A short time later, the Philadelphia chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police kicked in an additional $5,000, hoping to further encourage anyone with information about the case to come forward.

Philadelphia police say they have been looking at surveillance video from the area around 4th and Chestnut Streets.  Officials say there was some delay getting all the video because of the holiday and some businesses being closed.

Meanwhile, investigators are looking for more witnesses.  Police know many people were out there, about a half-hour after the bars closed in Old City, and say they hold the key to solving this crime.

"What we need (the public) to do is contact us, let us know," says homicide unit captain James Clark.   "Even if it just a little bit of information -- a color, possibly a tag, was it Pennsylvania?, was it Jersey? -- even if they think it's the slightest bit of information, it can be of great importance in this investigation."

According to police, Kless was brutally beaten by three men who got out of a car, perhaps thinking that Kless had been cursing at them.  He was rushed to Jefferson Hospital but was removed from life support later in the day.

Police have some information on the attackers' car -- an older model, possibly maroon -- but they still don't have a good, specific description of the car or the attackers.

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