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Thread: Death Penalty Trial Set for Matthew Joseph Reed in 2021 PA Murders of Susan Williams, James Dicken and John Dicken

  1. #1
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    Death Penalty Trial Set for Matthew Joseph Reed in 2021 PA Murders of Susan Williams, James Dicken and John Dicken





    DA: Snydertown triple murder suspect may face death penalty

    A dispute over a vehicle purchase caused Matthew J. Reed to “snap” when he shot and killed 3 people inside a Snydertown home Wednesday, according to arrest papers.

    Reed confessed to murdering Susan Williams, 58, James Dicken, 59, and an unidentified 17-year-old male at 3425 Snydertown Road, Trooper Josiah Reiner, state police at Stonington, wrote in a criminal affidavit.

    Northumberland County District Judge John Gembic denied Reed's request for bail at his arraignment on Thursday. The maximum sentence for his crimes would be the death penalty or life in prison, according to Northumberland County District Attorney Tony Matulewicz.

    Reiner wrote in arrest papers that Reed said he “‘snapped’ and started shooting and when he was done all three victims were deceased. Reed said that he was terrified and just took the vehicle and left the scene.”

    Reed faces 3 counts of homicide and one count each of robbery, illegal possession of a firearm and tampering with evidence. He is being held at Northumberland County Jail, Coal Township. A past out-of-state conviction for aggravated assault led to the illegal firearm possession charge.

    According to arrest papers, Reed planned to steal a 1997 Toyota Camry from the victims and brought a gun to kill them if he needed to. Reed told police that he was working to purchase the vehicle but a dispute ensued and the victims intended to sell the vehicle to someone else, arrest papers state.

    A witness said she saw Reed outside the victims’ home as they looked over the car about noon Wednesday, according to court documents. The vehicle was gone by 3 p.m. and later recovered at the Sunbury boat launch off South Front Street. Reed was apprehended about 8:15 p.m. nearby at Haven Ministry Center, a homeless shelter where he was living.

    The murder scene and the shelter are separated by about 8 miles.

    Investigators spoke with an acquaintance of Reed’s, according to court documents, who told police that Reed confessed to the murders. The acquaintance told police that Reed asked them to tell police they were together all day, court documents said. The individual also told police that Reed asked them to hide his gun, which they declined, according to court documents.

    Reed is scheduled to appear before Gembic for his preliminary hearing June 22.

    https://www.dailyitem.com/news/updat...322cebf3c.html
    Last edited by Steven; 04-06-2023 at 11:30 AM.

  2. #2
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    Hearing in triple murder case postponed until June 29

    By Francis Scarcella
    The Daily Item

    SHAMOKIN — A preliminary hearing for triple-murder defendant Matthew J. Reed, initially set for today, has been postponed until 10 a.m. June 29.

    Reed, 23, who had been living at the Haven Ministries homeless shelter in Sunbury, is accused of the June 9 shooting and killing of Susan Williams, 58, James Dicken, 59, and 17-year old John Paul Dicken, all of Snydertown.

    Reed appeared before Shamokin District Judge John Gembic on June 10 and told the judge he was “not a bad person,” before Gembic denied bail.

    According to police, a dispute over a vehicle purchase caused Reed to “snap” just before he shot and killed the three people inside their home at 3425 Snydertown Road, Trooper Josiah Reiner, state police at Stonington, wrote in a criminal affidavit. Troopers said Reed admitted to the killings.

    Reed faces three counts of criminal homicide and one count each of robbery, illegal possession of a firearm and tampering with evidence. He is being held at Northumberland County Jail, Coal Township.

    A previous out-of-state conviction for aggravated assault led to the illegal firearm possession charge.

    According to arrest papers, Reed planned to steal a 1997 Toyota Camry from the victims and brought a gun to kill them if he needed to.

    Reed told police that he was working to purchase the vehicle, but a dispute ensued and the victims decided to sell the vehicle to someone else, arrest papers state.

    A witness said she saw Reed outside the victims’ home as they looked over the car at about noon the day of the murders, according to court documents. The vehicle was gone by 3 p.m. and later recovered at the Sunbury boat launch off South Front Street.

    Reed was apprehended about 8:15 p.m. nearby at Haven Ministry Center, a homeless shelter where he was living.

    The murder scene and the shelter are about 8 miles apart.

    Inside Gembic’s courtroom, Reed cried while denying that he told the arresting officer that he brought a gun to the Snydertown home with a murderous intent.

    “I said I’ve been carrying a gun for three years to protect my life in the event somebody tried to take my life,” Reed said, explaining that he had been robbed before. He cringed and huddled over, his head hung low, when Gembic denied bail.

    Northumberland County District Attorney Tony Matulewicz, who is prosecuting the case, said Reed potentially faces a maximum sentence of life in prison or the death penalty.

    https://www.dailyitem.com/hearing-in...b1c45fb71.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Edited:

    Look ahead at 2023: Several outstanding murder cases in Valley

    By Francis Scarcella
    The Daily Item

    Northumberland County District Attorney Tony Matulewicz will be the busiest of all Valley DAs when it comes to homicides in 2023 because his office will be prosecuting 11 cases, two of which are death penalty cases, the most the county has ever seen.

    The second death penalty case is Matthew J. Reed, 24, who could potentially be facing the death penalty, is charged in a triple homicide that occurred on June 9, 2021, in Snydertown. Stonington state police say Reed — who had been living at Haven Ministry, a homeless shelter in Sunbury — gunned down Susan Williams, 58, James Dicken, 59, and 17-year-old John Paul Dicken, all of Snydertown, because of a dispute over a vehicle purchase.

    https://www.dailyitem.com/news/look-...b46320c28.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  4. #4
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    Death penalty is back on the table after Pa. man rejects plea deal in triple homicide case

    By John Beauge
    Penn Live

    SUNBURY -- A Northumberland County man charged with killing three Snydertown residents has chosen to stand trial instead of pleading guilty and avoid a possible death sentence.

    Matthew Joseph Reed, 25, rejected the offer to plead guilty to three counts of homicide with the sentences to run concurrently on Thursday.

    A hearing would have been held in November to determine the degree of guilt on the homicide counts.

    Reed, who appeared by video, assured county Judge Paige Rosini he was rejecting the offer. He wanted to explain his reason but she would not let him.

    Reed had made a counteroffer, the terms of which were not disclosed, that had been rejected, it was stated in court.

    Rosini told him there would be no more plea offers and he would stand trial next March or April with the death penalty back on the table.

    Besides the three homicide counts, he is charged with car robbery and illegal possession of a firearm.

    He is accused of killing James Dicken, 59, Susan Ann Williams, 58, and their son John Paul Dicken, 17, all of Snydertown, on June 9, 2021.

    James Dicken’s decision not to sell Reed a car led to the violence, state police say in the arrest affidavit.

    Reed told investigators he went to a trailer in the 3400 block of Snydertown Road with the intent to steal a 1997 Toyota Camry and to kill if he had to, the document states.

    He is accused of stealing a Camry after killing the three and driving it to the parking lot of a boat launch along the Susquehanna River in Sunbury, near the Haven Ministry Center, a homeless shelter where he was staying.

    The arrest affidavit states he confessed to killing the three in the small borough between Sunbury and Elysburg.

    Reed also is charged in a separate case with plotting an escape on a day when he was taken to court.

    That charge stems from an investigation that began after the district attorney’s office learned on July 13, 2021, about a phone call Reed placed to his father, Ellison Reed Jr., four days earlier from the county prison.

    In that call, the affidavit states, Reed told his father he would be getting a letter but they could not discuss the contents over the phone.

    Trooper Josiah Reiner said he obtained a search warrant and intercepted the letter at the Sunbury Post Office.

    The letter, which lacks punctuation and contains spelling errors, was addressed “to dad from Matt.” It stated, according to the affidavit, “I want you to help me escape when I got (sic) to court ram the cop car that’s transporting me.”

    It continues by suggesting his father wait until Reed leaves court, then follow the car he’s is in and ram it on a back road, and “I’ll take out the guard, the two cops.”

    “If you don’t want to do this its [sic] ok. “But if you don’t I will not be mad but I’m never get out if you don’t they are going to give me life, or death. So this is the only way I can ever see you on the outside.”

    Reed is being held without bail.

    https://www.pennlive.com/news/2023/1...cide-case.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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