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MONTGOMERY COUNTY OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY
COURT HOUSE, NORRISTOWN, PA., BOX 311, 19404-0311
PHONE (610) 278-3090 FAX (610) 278-3095

DISTRICT ATTORNEY: RISA VETRI FERMAN

FIRST ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY: KEVIN R. STEELE

CHIEF COUNTY DETECTIVE: OSCAR P. VANCE, JR

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 20, 2009

LARRY REESE CHARGED WITH THE MURDER OF LOUIS MALACHOWSKY IN ABINGTON TOWNSHIP ON APRIL 30, 2009

Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman and Abington Township Police Chief William J. Kelly today announced the arrest of Larry Reese for the murder of Louis Malachowsky in Abington Township on April 30, 2009. Reese is charged with Second Degree Murder, Third Degree Murder, Abuse of Corpse and related offenses.

On Friday evening, May 1, 2009, the body of Louis Malachowsky was discovered in a vacant lot at 2200 E. Butler Street in the Frankford section of Philadelphia. Malachowsky’s legs had been bound with a blanket. On Saturday, May 2, 2009, an autopsy was performed by the Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s Office on Malachowsky’s body. The forensic pathologist who conducted the autopsy determined that the victim died as a result of blunt impact head injury and that the manner of death was homicide.

After learning from the Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s Office that the victim may have been residing in Abington Township, Detectives from the Montgomery County Detective Bureau and the Abington Police Department commenced a joint investigation. Detectives learned that Larry Reese had been Malachowsky’s landlord and friend during the period before his death. However, their relationship had soured recently.

Detectives interviewed Larry Reese who admitted that he became angry with Malachowsky after receiving an e-mail from him. Reece admitted to police that he entered Malachowsky’s apartment in the early morning hours of April 30th armed with a heavy insulator, an electrician’s appliance that he used in his employment as an electrician for SEPTA. Reese found Malachowsky asleep on his couch. When Malachowsky awoke and realized Reese broke into his apartment, Malachowsky threatened to call the police. Reese told police that he did not recall what happened next but admitted “I must have” hit the victim. According to Reese, when he left the apartment, Malachowsky was “on the couch and mumbling.”

Reese told detectives that he returned to the apartment a day or two later and found Malachowsky dead on the sofa. Reese admitted wrapping Malachowsky’s body in a blanket, putting the body into a trash can, driving to Philadelphia and dumping the body in the vacant lot.
Prior to his arrest, in addition to his employment at SEPTA, Reese also served as an Abington Township Special Police Officer, a volunteer group that provides supplemental traffic direction support at community events and for religious institutions.

Magisterial District Judge Joseph H. Dougherty arraigned Reese today and remanded him, without bail, to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility. The preliminary hearing in this matter is scheduled for May 27, 2009 at 10:00 AM before DJ Dougherty.

The case will be prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney James Zoll and Assistant District Attorney Frank Nero.
Approved for release:

District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman

Deputy Chief John Livingood, Abington Police