Not Guilty Plea Entered in Brea Woman’s Death

David Scott Pickering, 21, the second suspect arrested in the slaying of a Los Angeles police detective’s wife, pleaded not guilty Monday to murder, robbery and attempted sodomy charges in Orange County North Municipal Court.

Authorities declined to discuss details of their ongoing investigation except to say that at least one more suspect remains at large.

“There may be one or two or more” additional suspects, Assistant Dist. Atty. Edgar A. Freeman said after Monday’s arraignment. But Freeman added that the motive in the case “is not clearly defined.”

Pickering’s court-appointed attorney, Ronald G. Brower, said his client, who remains in custody with no bail, told police that he did not know the victim, Marie Andrea Malmgreen, 38, of Brea. Mrs. Malmgreen’s body was found April 29 in the back seat of her abandoned car in Fullerton.

Police had shown Pickering photographs of the first suspect in the case, Scott Michael Katzin, 18, a transient who was arrested May 6. But Pickering told police that he had never seen Katzin before, according to Brower.

Brower said the third suspect, whom he identified only as “Scott something,” was with Pickering in Nebraska when Pickering learned that police wanted to question him in connection with the case.

Pickering returned home and voluntarily went to Fullerton police, who questioned him, Brower said. A few days later, last Wednesday, Pickering was arrested at his parents’ Brea home.

“He (Pickering) is shocked,” Brower told reporters after Pickering was arraigned on Monday. “He’s never been arrested before, never been in custody before. He says he never had any contact with the first defendant,” Brower said.

Fullerton Police Capt. Donald Bankhead said the investigation into Mrs. Malmgreen’s murder continues. But, he added, “I don’t think I should release the name of the person we are looking for. It only makes finding him that much harder. To my knowledge, there’s only an indication of three suspects at this time.”

In a related development, Municipal Judge Daniel T. Brice turned down requests from reporters Monday to look at police reports filed in court in support of Pickering’s arrest warrant.

Brice ruled that it was “premature” to disclose the material because it might interfere with the ongoing investigation, reveal confidential police sources, infringe on Pickering’s right to a fair trial and “contaminate the information that may yet be available from people who have yet to speak to police.”