Abington police volunteer charged with murder

He wrapped his friend's body in a blanket, he allegedly told police, placed it in a trash can, drove it from Abington Township to the Frankford section of Philadelphia, and dumped it in a vacant lot.

Yesterday, almost three weeks after the body of Louis Malachowsky, 54, of Abington, was discovered in that lot on Butler Street, Larry Reese, 44, was charged with killing him.

Reese, a SEPTA electrician who was also a township special police volunteer, was held without bail at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility on charges including second-degree murder and abuse of corpse, pending a hearing Wednesday.

Reese, armed with a heavy insulator that he used in his work, entered Malachowsky's apartment in the township's Willow Grove section in the overnight hours of April 30 while the victim was sleeping, according to the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office and Abington police.

The autopsy determined that a "blunt-impact head injury" killed Malachowsky. According to Abington Deputy Police Chief John Livingood, authorities believe Reese used the insulator to kill him.

Abington police got involved in the investigation about a week ago, after learning that the victim lived in the township, Livingood said.

Detectives determined that Reese had been Malachowsky's landlord and friend and that the relationship had gone bad, officials said.

Under questioning, officials said, Reese told detectives that he had become angry with Malachowsky after receiving an e-mail from him, the contents of which were not disclosed.

Police said Reese had told them that after he broke into the apartment, Malachowsky woke up and threatened to call police, and that Reese couldn't remember what happened next. "I must have" hit him, he said.

He said that when he returned to the apartment "a day or two" later, he found Malachowsky dead on the sofa, authorities said. He wrapped the body in a blanket and drove it to Philadelphia, according to officials.

He served as an Abington special police officer, part of a volunteer group that helps with traffic control at community events.