SHAMOKIN – A man who lives in a homeless shelter in Sunbury confessed to killing two adults and a teenage boy in a Northumberland County trailer, state police say.
Matthew Joseph Reed, 23, of Sunbury, was arraigned Thursday on three counts of homicide and related counts. He was committed to the county prison without bail.
Reed told investigators, according to the arrest affidavit, he went to the 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 affidavit gives this summary of what Reed told police:
James Dicken, one of those killed, had told him he decided to sell the Camry to someone else.
When Reed got to the house Wednesday afternoon he said he was called names, and with that he just “snapped” and started shooting. When he was done all three victims were dead.
He was terrified and took the Camry to the parking lot of a boat launch on the Susquehanna River near the Haven Ministry Center where he was staying.
Reed at his arraignment claimed Trooper Josiah Reiner misquoted him about the gun. “That’s not what I said,” he said. “I’ve been carrying a firearm for three years because I was robbed.”
He said he carried the gun “to protect my life. I am not a horrible person, I made a mistake.”
Reed asked District Judge John Gembic to set bail but he agreed with District Attorney Tony Matulewicz he did not have the authority to do so in homicide cases.
According to state police, the three killed were Dicken, 59, Susan Williams, 58, and John Dicken, 17, all Snydertown, a small borough between Sunbury and Elysburg.
The victims, whose relationship has not been disclosed, appeared to have been shot multiple times, police said. Autopsies are scheduled next week.
Samantha Dennis, who is described as an acquaintance of Reed, told investigators he pulled her aside at the center Wednesday evening and admitted he had killed three people, the affidavit states.
He asked her to hide his gun, which she refused to do, police said. The accused’s father, Ellison Reed Jr., reported there was a gun in the trunk of his Nissan that was parked near the center, investigators said.
The shootings occurred between noon and 3 p.m. police said. That is based on what they said they learned from a woman who was walking her dog about noon.
She reported observing the victims talking with a man she knew only by his last name of Reed. When she went back outside at 3 p.m. Dicken’s car was missing from the driveway, she said.
Besides the homicide counts, Reed is charged with stealing the Camry, tampering with evidence and illegal possession of a firearm. Matulewicz alerted Reed he could face the death penalty.
“State police did an amazing job solving this in the short time they did,” he said. It’s a “tragic” case, he said.
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