The family of a British man, who was reportedly killed in the United States while attempting to deceive an elderly widower over home construction, has labeled his shooter as ‘scum’.

In an emotional Facebook post, the sister of the 21-year-old victim, Salis Hanrahan, directed her anger at 75-year-old George Barr, a Vietnam War veteran and former firefighter.

Lisa-Marie Hanrahan shared a photo of Barr, lamenting on social media, ‘The scum that took my baby brother, lord please why us’.

A further statement from the Hanrahan family called Barr ‘evil’, accusing him of murder during a confrontation at his residence in Philadelphia, reportedly stemming from a disagreement over construction costs, according to police sources cited by the Daily Mail.

Despite these claims, Barr’s associates have defended his character, with a senior representative from a Philadelphia firefighters’ union describing him as an ‘exceptional firefighter’, noting that such a situation was ‘entirely uncharacteristic for him’.

Hanrahan – who the Trump administration claimed was in the US illegally and was in a gang of conmen construction workers – walked out of the home in the Roxborough neighbourhood of Philadelphia on July 8th and collapsed on the pavement with a gunshot wound to the chest.

He died from his injuries in hospital.

Local outlet KYW said that Hanrahan tried to charge $70,000 (£51,800) for the repairs on the 1,200 sq ft home, which is worth around $258,000 (£190,000).

That appears to have been far more than the original price with one neighbour saying Hanrahan and the others he was with were ‘asking for more money’ every day.

A spokesman for the US Department of Homeland Security said that Hanrahan was an ‘illegal alien from the United Kingdom’.

The spokesman said: ‘He entered the country illegally on an unknown date and location and was denied Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) as he was determined to have affiliation with ‘The Traveling Conman Fraud Group’, a transnational criminal organization’.

Barr’s case does indeed bear striking similarities to the modus operandi of the Traveling Conman Fraud Group, as outlined by US prosecutors in a case out of Rhode Island last February.

In that case a British man was accused of running sham construction companies to fool people into hiring them for work which didn’t need to be done, then charging them far more than the agreed fees.

Barr has been charged with murder, possession of an instrument of crime and recklessly endangering another person.

He has not entered a plea yet and is awaiting being assigned a publicly-funded lawyer.

Currently he is in a local prison having been remanded in custody after his initial appearance in court.

Hanrahan was married to his wife Roseann and appears to have wed her recently: a picture she posted on Facebook in January shows them sitting in a car in wedding attire.

Her Facebook page indicates that a daughter was born in December, meaning she is six months old.

His family, who are from Braintree in Essex, were blunt in the comments on social media.

A relative called Paddy Hanrahan posted a news story about the incident on Facebook, including a mugshot of Barr, and said: ‘Please look at the evil in he’s (sic) face he couldn’t even give a reason why he done it he cold bloodedly killed him for nothing’.

Friend Martina McCarthy responded: ‘I said the same u can see the evil behind his eyes rip salis’.

Another friend, Michelle Bas, wrote: ‘He needs to rot in jail!!!’

Hanrahan’s sister Lisa-Marie posted a picture of Barr and wrote: ‘The scum that took my baby brother lord pls why us’.

But others came out in support of Barr and said he was a good man.

One man, Jack Cleary, who claimed he was a friend of Barr’s wrote: ‘Free George Barr, NOW! He is a retired Philadelphia Firefighter and a hero from Vietnam War’.

Another local woman posted: ‘I have known George for a very long time. Frankly, I can’t believe this. Always been so kind to me and my daughters’.

In an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail, Tommy McKiernan, the vice president of Local 22, the Philadelphia firefighter’s union. said that Barr joined the city’s Fire Department in 1989 and retired in 2015 having last served at Ladder 11 in the South of the city.

McKiernan said that Barr’s wife Angela, who he married years after they began dating, had died in September.

He said: ‘He was an exceptional firefighter and this is something that’s way out of character for him.

‘I don’t know if he was diagnosed with PTSD from Vietnam but it’s likely something from being a firefighter, maybe a combination of the two.

‘I wasn’t there when it happened so I don’t know if any of that was triggered

‘George isn’t the kind of guy who would just pull a gun out and shoot somebody. I’m wondering if there was a confrontation, maybe it got physical. I’m hoping it’s a self defence,

‘I’ve never seen him angry or argumentative. He was in control. That was not his character to get mad or confrontational.

‘The only time I saw him angry is if we had jobs back in the day and somebody got killed on the job’.

McKiernan said that he worked a number of jobs with Barr while they both served: McKiernan is still an active duty firefighter but is due to retire in a few months.

Among the citations that Barr was given for bravery was one from September 1999 for making ‘numerous rescues’ for people trapped in a flood in Philadelphia during Hurricane Floyd.

Another citation was from December 2000 where he helped with four rescues of people trapped on the 3rd and 4th floors of a building.

Citations are for teamwork and Barr was ‘always a team player’, McKiernan said

He said: ‘I’m shocked he shot somebody. I’m hoping PTSD kicked in and he freaked out, that would make more sense than George just shooting somebody for no reason’.

The Daily Mail previously reported that Barr paid a $5,000 (£3,700) down payment on the construction work to install new vinyl siding panels on his home.

Hanrahan is then said to have continually demanded further sums of cash from Barr, with the roof of the property suffering unexplained damage as tensions escalated.

A neighbour said: ‘My mom was his friend and we are watching (Barr’s) dog. Days before (the shooting) he was complaining that he paid $5,000 as a down payment and every day after that they were asking for more money.

‘He called his brother a couple days ago saying (the workers) put a hole in his roof, his brother told him to get them off the property and I guess that is when the dispute happened’

In the previous case from Rhode Island, a 78-year-old woman paid more than $850,000 (£629,000) for unnecessary basement and foundation repairs to her home.

The court documents state that the Traveling Conmen Fraud Group is made up of UK or Irish nationals who enter the US on tourist visas and overstay, or they just come to the US illegally.

The documents state: ‘Once in the United States, Travelers go to different cities and states, soliciting construction work.

‘This is sometimes done door-to-door, by knocking and introducing themselves to homeowners, usually elderly individuals, claiming to have extra materials left over from a prior job or noticing a defect or damage to the home that needs to be repaired immediately.

‘The members often quote a low price, and then, after further inspection, demand much more money.

‘Travelers usually start with a small job (such as fixing brick entry steps or re-pointing chimneys) and then convince homeowners that their homes need major repairs, such as foundation work or waterproofing.

‘At this point, the Travelers overcharge homeowners and sometimes intimidate homeowners into paying them up front for work that is not completed’.

Barr’s family did not return calls and texts asking for comment.

In a statement the Philadelphia Police Department confirmed that Barr had been charged and that a firearm was recovered at the scene.

The statement said: ‘The investigation remains active and is being conducted by the Philadelphia Police Department’s Homicide Unit’.

In the first half of this year, the U.S. witnessed a significant surge in foreclosures, highlighting the growing financial pressures confronting homeowners across the nation.

According to recent data from ATTOM, a leading real estate data firm, nearly 228,000 foreclosure filings were recorded from January through June. This figure marks a 21% increase from the previous year and a 28% rise from two years ago.

Rob Barber, CEO of ATTOM, noted in a statement that the upward trend in foreclosure rates suggests a deepening financial distress among homeowners. Foreclosures typically occur when individuals fall significantly behind on their mortgage payments, often due to unforeseen life events such as losing a job. ATTOM categorizes foreclosures as encompassing default notices, scheduled auctions, or bank repossessions.

Several states reported the most significant spikes in foreclosure activity during the first six months of the year:

When it comes to the highest overall foreclosure rates, Florida dominates. In June alone, one in every 2,106 housing units in the state had a foreclosure filing.

Foreclosures dipped during the pandemic and are now creeping back up to 2019 levels, when filings totaled 640,864, per ATTOM data. 

With the data showing that foreclosure rates are returning to their pre-pandemic levels, “the increases also suggest that some homeowners may be facing greater financial strain than they were a year ago,” Barber said.

In another sign of strain for American homeowners, new data from Realtor.com reveals that short sales — when a homeowner sells a home for less than what they owe on their mortgage often to avoid foreclosure — are climbing. 

While the measure is less drastic than a foreclosure, it indicates the homeowner is in some sort of financial crunch. Short sales rose 16% in the first quarter of 2026 compared to the same time last year, according to Realtor.com.

Edited by

Aimee Picchi