Charges Against Man Dismissed
Charges were dismissed for lack of evidence Friday against David Scott Pickering, a Brea construction worker who was one of two men accused in the Orange County killing of a Los Angeles police detective’s wife.
Orange County Superior Court Judge Daniel T. Brice ordered Pickering released after prosecutors said they wanted to drop murder, robbery and attempted sodomy charges in connection with the death last April of Marie Andrea Malmgreen, 38, also of Brea. She was the wife of Detective Russell Malmgreen.
Pickering’s court-appointed lawyer, Ronald G. Brower, said that his client could prove that he was working at a construction site in San Juan Capistrano at the time authorities believe Mrs. Malmgreen was abducted or attacked--some time after 8:30 a.m. on April 22.
Scott Michael Katzin, a 19-year-old transient, remains charged with killing Mrs. Malmgreen.
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