2nd Man Held in Woman’s Death

A second suspect has been charged with the murder of Maria Andrea Malmgreen, a Brea woman whose body was found in April in the back seat of her Cadillac in Fullerton, authorities said.

Meanwhile, police are continuing their investigation into the death of the 38-year-old wife of a Los Angeles Police Department detective.

The arraignment of the new suspect, David Scott Pickering, 21, of 622 S. Pine St. in Brea, was delayed Thursday in North Municipal Court to permit his relatives to arrange for a private attorney to represent him, court officials said.

Pickering was arrested at his home on Wednesday on an arrest warrant issued after investigators linked him to the murder, Fullerton Police Capt. Donald Bankhead said.

Bankhead said the district attorney’s office has advised him not to discuss details of the case, beyond saying that investigators “were able to tie (Pickering) in with the other suspect.”

Bankhead declined to say what Pickering’s relationship is to Scott Michael Katzin, 19, a transient, who also faces murder charges in connection with the April death.

No Bail

Like Katzin, Pickering is being held without bail. Katzin is scheduled for a preliminary hearing in North Municipal Court in Fullerton on June 27.

“The only information we’ve released is that the investigation is continuing,” Bankhead said.

Assistant Dist. Atty. Edgar A. Freeman, who is handling the case, could not be reached for comment.

Both men are charged with murder, robbery and attempted sodomy, Bankhead said. The murder charges also allege “special circumstances,” meaning that the killing was committed in the course of robbery and attempted sodomy,” which can carry the death penalty.

Mrs. Malmgreen was living with her husband and her two children, ages 16 and 12, when she disappeared on April 22. A Fullerton police sergeant on patrol discovered her car on April 30 in a dirt parking lot among other vehicles behind an apartment complex at Bastanchury and Associated roads, within two miles of Pickering’s home.

The exact cause of death has not been determined, pending completion of coroner’s tests.

Katzin was stopped by police on May 6 not far from where the body was found, just north of Cal State Fullerton.

At Pickering’s home on Thursday, Jerry Pickering, the suspect’s father, said: “He’s innocent, and that’s all I want to say.”