Brea Man Released in Woman’s Slaying : 1 Suspect Still in Custody in Death of L.A. Police Officer’s Wife

Charges against one of two men accused in the killing of a Los Angeles police detective’s wife were dismissed Friday because of a lack of evidence.

North Orange County Municipal Judge Daniel T. Brice ordered David Scott Pickering released from custody after Deputy Dist. Atty. Edgar A. Freeman told the court at a preliminary hearing in Fullerton that the prosecution did not have sufficient evidence to proceed against the suspect.

“I can’t believe it’s finally over,” Pickering told his court-appointed lawyer, Ronald G. Brower of Santa Ana.

Brower said after the hearing: “It’s important to note that the charges were not dismissed because of some technicality, such as improperly obtained evidence or violation of rights. They were dismissed simply because there was no evidence he had committed the crime.”

Pickering, 21, a construction worker, was arrested June 4 at his parents’ home in Brea in connection with the death last April of 38-year-old Marie Andrea Malmgreen, who also lived in Brea.

The victim was last seen alive April 22 when she dropped her two children off at school. She failed to keep two appointments later that morning and didn’t return for the children that afternoon.

A week later, a Fullerton police officer on patrol found her body in the back seat of her car, which was parked in a field behind an apartment complex at Bastanchury and Associated roads, within two miles of Pickering’s parents’ home.

Cause of Death Not Determined

An autopsy failed to establish how she died.

Investigators have said they doubt that Malmgreen’s killing was connected to her husband’s work as a Los Angeles police detective. Russell Malmgreen is a judicial liaison officer in Chief Daryl F. Gates’ office and at one time had been assigned to the department’s anti-terrorist division.

On May 8, Fullerton police arrested Scott Michael Katzin, a 19-year-old transient, and later charged him with killing Malmgreen. Katzin’s preliminary hearing was also scheduled to begin Friday, but was continued until July 25 at the request of defense attorney Ronald P. Kreber.

Brower said that Pickering had returned voluntarily to California from Nebraska when he heard police wanted to question him, and was arrested after questioning.

At an arraignment following his arrest, Pickering pleaded not guilty to murder, robbery and attempted sodomy charges and had been held in jail since then without bail. The murder charges had also carried special circumstances allegations, meaning a conviction could result in a death penalty or life in prison without parole.

Brower said Friday that evidence indicated Malmgreen had been abducted or attacked sometime after 8:30 a.m. on April 22; at the same time, Brower said, Pickering was working at a construction site in San Juan Capistrano.

“His time card verified that he was on the job from 6:30 a.m. that day until 2:30 p.m., as did his foreman and two co-workers,” Brower said.

Investigators have acknowledged that a third man, described as a transient from Nebraska, also has been questioned, but not charged, in connection with the case.