Former Dartmouth man found not guilty for half sister's murder
David Reed was found not guilty at the Fall River Superior Court. Photo by Kat Sheridan
David Reed was found not guilty at the Fall River Superior Court. Photo by Kat Sheridan
Former Dartmouth resident David Reed, who was accused of killing his half sister with a conch shell in 2001, has been found not guilty.
Reed's half sister Rose Marie Moniz had been found dead at her home on Acushnet Avenue in New Bedford on March 23, 2001. At the time, it was determined that she had been bludgeoned to death with a fireplace poker, a conch shell and a cast iron kettle.
Early into the investigation the case went cold, according to the District Attorney's Office, until the Cold Case Unit picked it back up in 2019.
Reed was charged in 2020 after the Cold Case Unit reexamined evidence and found that Reed's DNA matched DNA samples recovered from the opening of the conch shell.
On Jan. 21, 2022, Reed pled not guilty to charges of murder and armed robbery.
