ARDMORE- Despite nearly 300 years of good food and heavy drinking, Philadelphia’s legendary General Wayne Inn can’t seem to shake its ghost-ridden past. Already haunted by a Hessian soldier killed in the 1700s, the restaurant now is troubled by the December murder of co-owner Jim Webb and the February suicide of a 20-year-old assistant chef, who told police she was having an affair with Webb’s business partner. "I don’t know if it’s just more restaurant lore, but it is weird," said Sammy Totoro, owner of the Hare Studio One across the street from the General Wayne Inn in suburban Philadelphia. "There’s an aura of something." Webb, 31, was found shot in the back of the head, lying face up in his office Dec. 27. He was found by co-owner Guy Sileo, 29, who was also a head chef. Police initially investigated Sileo, who stands to receive about $600,000- less the restaurant’s $450,000 insurance-linked loan- from insurance on the death of his partner. In total, the restaurant owes about $1.2 million in mortgages and loans.

Webb’s wife, Robin, told police. A search warrant issued Dec. 28 and unsealed Thursday cited "financial problems which have caused numerous verbal disputes" between Sileo and Webb. But Totoro, who cut hair for both Sileo and Webb, said the two seemed close and were always upbeat. "It’s really a shame. They were both hard-working guys really into cooking," he said, adding that the pair often worked 14 to 16-hour days. Webb originally hired Sileo in 1989 to work as a chef at the American Bistro in Morton, Delaware County, which the pair bought a year later. In 1995, they bought the General Wayne Inn, which was founded in 1704 and claims to be the oldest continually running restaurant in the nation. Robin Webb, Jim’s wife, told police her dead husband had consulted an attorney and was considering getting out of the business at the beginning of 1997 because of financial problems, the search warrant said. The case got trickier with the Feb. 22 suicide of Felicia Moyse, who was Sileo’s alibi for part of the night of the murder. Moyse told police that she and Sileo left Webb alone in the restaurant around 11 p.m. the night of the murder. Police believe Moyse may have killed herself in remorse over the end of her six-month relationship with Sileo.

The General Wayne Inn already has its share of ghosts. Named after Revolutionary War General "Mad Anthony" Wayne, the inn has hosted George Washington, the Marquis de LaFayette and several signers of the Declaration of Independence. Horror writer Edgar Allen Poe became a frequent customer in 1839 and scratched his initials on one of the windows in 1843. The window was later destroyed. The spirit of a Hessian soldier is said to wander the wine cellar, where he was killed by the wife of a Colonial soldier supposedly killed by the Hessian. Both owners told Totoro about hearing mysterious noises or gusts of air late at night. Women often report being tapped from behind but turn to find no one there.