Penn. man murdered roommate, dismembered and scattered remains: police

A Pennsylvania man bludgeoned and strangled his roommate to death, then dismembered his body before scattering the remains across three different locations, state police said.

The suspect, identified by the Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office on Friday as Joshua Moser , is accused of killing 37-year-old David Hittinger, who’d recently moved into his basement. He’s facing charges including criminal homicide, abuse of a corpse and tampering with/fabricating physical evidence, NBC Philadelphia reported.

Hittinger was reported missing on May 13 by a loved one who told police no one had heard from him for days. Upon learning he lived with Moser, authorities traveled to their home along the 600 block of West Franklin Street in Slatington and executed a search warrant. According to a probable cause affidavit, officers found a large amount of blood in the basement, which had been “hastily staged” in a bid to cover up the stains.

Investigators later found dismembered body parts in trash bags at three locations: Fairview Cemetery in Slatington, an area off of the D&L Trail in Slatington and a small quarry behind Northern Lehigh High School in Washington Township, Lehigh County. They were able to identify Hittinger as the victim through a fingerprint on a dismembered hand, police added.

Moser was arrested Wednesday in connection with an unrelated incident. During the subsequent interview with investigators, 33-year-old Moser allegedly admitted to strangling Hittinger and striking him over the head with a hammer in the basement of his home, as well as cutting him into pieces.

Coroner Daniel Buglio declined to reveal Hittinger’s cause of death, citing the pending investigation, but he ruled the manner a homicide. An autopsy was completed Friday morning, Buglio told Lehigh Valley Live.

While a motive for the grisly slaying remains unclear,  Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin Holihan during a press conference on Friday said that there “appeared to be some sort of disagreement” prior to the killing. He added that there is currently no threat to the public in connection with the incident.

Moser was arraigned Friday morning and he was denied bail. He was being held at the Monroe County Prison but is slated to be transferred to Lehigh County later this month.