MOVE Member`s Home For Sale

The southern New Jersey home of a prominent MOVE member went up for sale less than two days after her ex-husband was found shot to death in his car.

John Gilbride, a one-time supporter of the radical back-to-nature group, bought the home with Alberta Africa in 1998 for $178,000, according to property records.

After divorcing in 2000, the two became involved in a bitter dispute over Gilbride's visits with their 6-year-old son, John Zachary Gilbride, known as Zack. Investigators said Gilbride's death was not necessarily linked to the dispute.

MOVE member Sue Africa said that the Cherry Hill house where the couple once lived held too many painful memories for Alberta Africa.

"It was the home she hoped to raise her son in with the boy's father," Sue Africa told The Philadelphia Inquirer.

A Philadelphia judge ruled in August that John Gilbride could have unsupervised visits with his son.

Alberta Africa and MOVE refused to honor the order, and she and Zack disappeared from the Thornhill Road house and went into hiding shortly after Labor Day.

Alberta Africa resurfaced Friday at MOVE's West Philadelphia compound to answer questions from television reporters. She blamed Gilbride's death on the government.

Gilbride's parents, Jack and Fran Gilbride, of Herndon, Va., released a statement late Friday night, saying their son was "a loving father."

"The bitter custody battle in which John was involved in recent years put an enormous strain on him and the family," Jack Gilbride wrote.

Detectives said that their investigation into Gilbride's killing was ongoing.

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