A North Philly Man, Upset That He Failed a Promotional Test at FedEx, Ambushed and Killed the Instructor

A North Philadelphia man, disgruntled at being denied a promotion at FedEx, ambushed and killed the instructor who made the decision not to promote him, prosecutors in Delaware County said Tuesday.

Keith Blount, 59, was charged with murder, aggravated assault, and gun crimes in the death earlier this month of Bartholomew “Bart” Masciulli, a 38-year employee of FedEx and a father of three.

Keith Blount

Bart Masciulli

Blount also faces several counts of assault of a law enforcement officer for engaging Philadelphia police in a gun battle hours after killing Masciulli, during which prosecutors say he fired at the officers who had spotted his car near his home in North Philadelphia. Blount fired his 9mm Sig Sauer pistol, the same gun investigators believe he used to kill Masciulli, until it was empty, according to the affidavit of probable cause for his arrest.

He was unable to legally possess a gun because of previous felony convictions for robbery, assault, and carrying illegal guns, court records show.

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Surveillance footage from the scene showed Blount arriving at the employee parking hours earlier, seemingly waiting for Masciulli, the affidavit said. He sat in his car, parked nearby, until Masciulli got into the Jeep to leave.

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{snip} Blount walked up to the driver’s side window, spoke briefly with Masciulli, then stepped back and raised a handgun, firing five times, according to the document. {snip}

Records from FedEx showed that Blount had recently taken an exam to become a driver for FedEx, a test administered by Masciulli, the affidavit said. Blount completed the class on Sept. 2 but failed the test.

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