Grossman and Chicago lawyer Marlene Kamish presented the theory yesterday during a news conference in front of the federal courthouse in Center City. They also released the sworn affidavit of self-described hit man Arnold R. Beverly.

Beverly's affidavit says he and an unnamed man were hired to kill Faulkner "because he interfered with the graft and payoffs" made to have prostitution, gambling and drug-dealing continue unhindered by police in an area of bars and strip clubs on Locust Street near 13th Street in Center City.

Beverly's two-page affidavit - a sworn statement signed and dated June 8, 1999 - contends Faulkner had been shot in the back and face by the time Abu-Jamal arrived on the scene in the early morning of Dec. 9, 1981.

"I shot Faulkner in the face at close range," Beverly's affidavit reads. "Jamal was shot shortly after that by a uniformed police officer who arrived on the scene."

Beverly's statement maintains that he shot Faulkner in front of three unidentified police officers. Beverly said the officers' presence did not worry him because "I believed that since I was hired by the mob to shoot and kill Faulkner, any police officers on the scene would be there to help me."

The affidavit gives no background about Beverly or his whereabouts, and Grossman and Kamish refused to elaborate "for obvious reasons."

In addition to Beverly's statement, Grossman and Kamish released sworn statements by Abu-Jamal and his brother, William Cook, in which both deny shooting Faulkner.

Cook's statement, given on April 29, says he did not testify at his brother's trial or state appeal hearings because he was never asked and because his lawyer advised him against going to court because he also might be charged with murder.

Grossman said he located the Beverly affidavit in files he and Kamish recently obtained from Abu-Jamal's former attorneys, Leonard I. Weinglass and Daniel R. Williams.

Abu-Jamal, 45, fired his longtime legal team in early March, contending that Williams breached the attorney-client relationship by writing an insider's account of the case.

Williams denied violating lawyer-client privilege and said his recently published book, Executing Justice, was authorized by Abu-Jamal.

Williams yesterday confirmed that he and Weinglass had obtained Beverly's affidavit two years ago but declined further comment.

In Chapter 16 of his book, Williams writes that he and Weinglass repudiated the mob-hit theory of Faulkner's death as being incredible.

Philadelphia First Assistant U.S. Attorney Arnold H. Gordon yesterday called Beverly's affidavit "so patently ridiculous on its face that it should be obvious to any fair-minded person that it's a complete fabrication."

Michael A. Smerconish, a Center City lawyer, radio talk-show host, and attorney for the group started by Faulkner's widow, Maureen, to counter Abu-Jamal supporters, denounced the mob-hit theory.

"The only thing they have yet to claim is that the shooter was seen on the grassy knoll and is hiding in Roswell, New Mexico," Smerconish said.

Abu-Jamal was convicted of shooting Faulkner, 25, a decorated five-year officer, who had pulled over Cook in an early-morning traffic stop.

Abu-Jamal, driving a taxi, reportedly passed by, spotted Faulkner and his brother, and parked the cab.

Prosecutors said police officers, responding to a report of a shooting, discovered the mortally wounded Faulkner on the ground and Abu-Jamal lying nearby, wounded by a bullet from Faulkner's gun. Abu-Jamal's gun, with five spent shells, also was found.

Abu-Jamal, who has never testified about what happened that morning, has contended he was framed by police for his radical activities and argued that his defense was undermined by an incompetent trial attorney and by the trial judge's refusal to authorize more money for the defense to hire pathology and ballistics experts who might have proved he was not the shooter.

Joseph A. Slobodzian's e-mail address is jslobodzian@phillynews.com.