The arraignment of one-time Dartmouth resident David Reed for the 20-year-old murder of his half sister has been postponed because Reed has been exposed to Covid-19, the Bristol County District Attorney’s office announced Thursday, Dec. 9.

Reed had been scheduled for arraignment on charges of murder and armed robbery Friday, Dec. 10 in connection with the March 2001 killing of Rose Marie Moniz in her New Bedford home.

The case has drawn national attention following an extensive reexamination of the evidence by the district attorney’s Cold Case Unit, according to information provided by District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III’s office.

Moniz, 41, was found dead March 23, 2001 in her home on Acushnet Avenue in New Bedford. 

Moniz had been bludgeoned to death with a fireplace poker, a conch shell and a cast iron kettle. Her purse was emptied out on the floor and an undetermined amount of cash was stolen, the district attorney said.

The conch shell proved pivotal to charges being filed 20 years later. 

When the cold case was revisited in 2019 by Quinn’s Cold Case Unit, investigators decided to have the conch shell tested. Testing of the interior of the shell revealed a full DNA profile that matched Reed’s, the District Attorney’s office reported.

In late August 2020 a Massachusetts State Police detective assigned to the district attorney’s office and a New Bedford Police Detective attempted to interview Reed at his residence on Milton Street in Dartmouth. After the brief interview, he fled to Alabama, California, Hawaii, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island before being apprehended September 2021 at a rescue mission in Providence.

Reed was also indicted in September in connection to a 2003 attempted murder and robbery of another New Bedford woman, Maribel Martinez-Alegria. 

“This case highlights what we are doing in regards to Cold Case homicides and rapes in our effort to bring justice to the families of victims and the entire community,’’ Quinn said. “We will continue to utilize all available resources to review cold cases and seek out new evidence. We look forward to prosecuting this case in open court.”

Reed has already been arraigned in connection to the 2003 assault and robbery of Martinez-Alegria in New Bedford. He was arraigned in October on indictments charging him with armed assault with intent to murder and armed robbery. Judge Gregg Pasquale found him dangerous after a Superior Court Dangerousness Hearing was held in early November. He is being held without bail.

 The murder arraignment will be handled by Deputy District Attorney William McCauley and Assistant District Attorney Caleb Weiner.