Police in Pennsylvania have arrested a man suspected of killing and dismembering his roommate and scattering her body in three locations, WPVI reported on Saturday.
State police have charged Joshua Moser, 33, with murder, abuse of a corpse, and tampering with or fabricating evidence in the death of David Hittinger, according to reports. W.P.VI..
A missing persons report was filed with police last Monday after Hittinger, 37, could not be heard from for nearly two days and did not show up for a scheduled birthday celebration, WPVI reported, according to the Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office. Gavin Hourihan told the court: Friday press conference. (Related: Report: Police arrest tenant after sex offender’s dismembered body was found in apartment refrigerator, police say)
Officers said the basement of the home appeared to have been “hastily staged” to hide the blood. https://t.co/GWeb4ZG1YS
— 6abc Action News (@6abc) May 17, 2024
After learning that Hittinger had recently moved in with Moser, state police executed a search warrant at Moser’s address and found a basement “hastily set up” to hide the blood, according to WPVI. It is reported that he did.
Hourihan said a saw, a box cutter knife, bloody clothing and other evidence were also found, WPVI reported.
According to the report, when police interviewed Moser on Wednesday, he told investigators that he had strangled Hittinger in the basement, hit her in the head with a hammer, and then dismembered the victim. He allegedly stated that he disposed of the victim’s body parts in three locations in the Slattington and Washington areas.
WPVI reported that Hollihan said police found garbage bags containing body parts at a cemetery in Slatington on Wednesday, and other body parts were found along a path and in a small quarry on Thursday. said that it was done.
One of Moser’s neighbors, Cadence Waterhouse, told WPVI she heard Moser screaming inside her home.
“He was saying, ‘Get out of here, you don’t belong here,'” Waterhouse said. “But I didn’t hear anyone speak to him.”
WPVI reported that Waterhouse added that the victim was a shy man who he had met just last week when he returned his dog.
“He said, ‘Yes, that’s my dog, sorry.’ He wandered off.”
Police have not released a motive for the crime, but Moser was arrested on Wednesday for a parole violation and will be brought to Lehigh County soon to face murder charges, WPVI reported.
Moser was convicted of a drunk driving crash that killed a 24-year-old woman in 2016 and is currently being held without bail, WPVI reported.
