Steven Molin Says He Accidentally Ran Over (And Over And Over) His Mom

[Dakota Valkyrie]

A Pennsylvania man was arrested on first-degree murder charges in Berlin on Wednesday after he allegedly killed his elderly mother by running over her with his car multiple times.

Detectives from the Worcester County Bureau of Investigation arrested Steven Frederick Molin, 58, of Darby, Pa. on charges of first- and second-degree murder and manslaughter.

Just before midnight on Aug. 31, police went to Carey Road in Berlin to investigate a serious motor vehicle accident. Paramedics took the elderly victim, 85-year-old Emily Belle Molin, to Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury, where she died from the injuries she suffered in the accident.

Police said Steven Molin was driving the car and Emily Molin was the passenger. Steven Molin reportedly told police that his mother fell out of the car while they were traveling down Carey Road and that he backed up when he noticed she was gone.

But Molin drove over his mother two or three times before stopping the car, according to the police report.

Detectives interviewed Molin and forensic investigators gath- ered evidence at the scene of the crime. Evidence was found that contradicted his story that his mother fell out of the car by accident, police said. Based on the evidence and statements given by Molin, police concluded that Emily Molin’s death was murder.
[...]

Traffic reconstructionists were still examining the crime scene Wednesday. Among things they were trying to determine, Lupiwok said, was exactly how fast Steven Molin was driving when he ran over his mother. The preliminary investigation showed he was traveling between 25 and 45 miles per hour, he said.

The detectives have a motive in the murder, but Lupiwok would not disclose it because the investigation is continuing.

http://www.oceancitytoday.net/news/2...LLING_HER.html

After Molin told the judge he wished to have representation appointed for him, he asked permission to address the court. Molin explained he was a high school graduate who finished 13th in his class and that he was a registered master plumber. He then went into a description of the events leading up to the incident a day earlier in a somewhat untypical departure from a bond review hearing.

“I’ve been taking care of mom since 1981, the same year my dad died, and it was customary for me to take her out on drives,” Molin told the court. “I’ve been taking care of her and I fixed up her house. On the day of the accident, I was taking her to visit my father’s grave in Berlin.”

Purnell said the purpose of the hearing was to determine if Molin should be released on bail, and if so, what an appropriate amount for the bond should be. The judge advised Molin it was not the time to discuss the facts of his case.

Nonetheless, the accused murderer pressed on to explain the events.

“Earlier in the day, I had an accident in the same vehicle and the door wasn’t working right,” he said. “It was just an accident. She suffered from Alzheimer’s and she was playing with the windows. I don’t know how she fell out of the vehicle. It was an accident.”

Purnell ordered Molin held without bond until his preliminary hearing set for Sept. 30.

http://www.mdcoastdispatch.com/artic...cid=30&id=9504

Darby Police Chief Robert Smythe said he has known both Molin and his mother for years. He described them both as nice people, but said Molin had some difficulties.

“He is (intellectually) challenged,” Smythe said. “It’s a shame. It really is.”

According to Smythe, both Molin and his mother lived in the borough for years. Both were hoarders and were cited by the borough on numerous occasions for uninhabitable living conditions, he said.

“You couldn’t walk in there,” he said of the Molins’ home. “There were pathways. The living room was full of trash.”

Emily Molin was eventually removed from the house by a social service agency, Smythe said, adding that Molin was “very upset” by the move and fought it.

“Do I think he could murder his mom intentionally? I don’t think so,” the police chief said. “Do I think she could fall out of the truck and he back up? Yeah.”

Molin, who had lived in the borough since 1959, ran as a Republican for Darby district justice in 2001. Coincidentally, at the time of his election bid, Molin balked at having his photograph taken for a campaign-related story, telling a Daily Times reporter he was “a little worried” it would be on file if he got into trouble in the future.

http://pottsmerc.com/articles/2010/0...9034564941.txt

Former Darby Mayor Paula Brown said she has known Steven Molin for years through her service in Darby’s government.

“I just really don’t even know how to describe him,” Brown said. “I heard about this yesterday and I’m just very, very sad because his mother was a good person. It’s very disheartening to hear that there’s a possibility of him being accused of killing her.”

Brown said she had witnessed Steven Molin act aggressively toward his mother in the past, and said she was happy to see Emily Molin placed at Sterling, where she was out of his care.

“It’s a tragedy,” Brown said, noting she could imagine Steven Molin running over his mother. “You think you’re safe and do the right thing. She’s in a nursing home, and then this happens.”

http://delcotimes.com/articles/2010/...3759362830.txt

[carolinablue]

“He is (intellectually) challenged,” Smythe said. “It’s a shame. It really is.”

ran as a Republican for Darby district justice in 2001

There is nothing remotely funny about this story; poor lady, I hope she gets justice. But those comments made me snicker.

[VXIII]

Why was he taking his mom to his dads grave at nearly midnight?

[Dakota Valkyrie]

... But those comments made me snicker.

Shows you how brain damaged he is... didn't realize his true party :001_tt2:

[Dakota Valkyrie]

The Darby Borough man charged with murdering his 85-year-old mother by running her over with his work van was allegedly upset about having to transfer property into his mother’s name to keep her in a nursing home.

Steven Molin, 58, of the first block of Summit Street, remains jailed in Maryland, charged with first-, second- and third-degree murder in connection with the Aug. 31 incident.
[...]

As first reported by Shawn J. Soper of the Maryland Coast Dispatch, a bloody footprint from one of Emily Molin’s sneakers was found near the undercarriage of Molin’s 2008 white Chevrolet van. Investigators believe the victim tried to put her foot up as she was being run over, court documents indicate.

Officers who responded to the scene also found a dent on the passenger side of the van and a rope tied to a door handle. Molin allegedly told police the truck door was not staying closed, so he tied a rope to it to keep it closed. When asked about the damage to the van at the scene of the incident, Molin allegedly responded, “I don’t know how much I should say to you.”

Blood, human skin and hair were found in the middle of the road, with a tire impression running through the middle, according to the probable cause document.

While on the scene, a sheriff’s deputy reportedly received a call from a staff member at the Sterling Nursing Home in Media.

The employee told police she and Molin had argued earlier and Molin had threatened to “blow her head off,” according to the court documents.

Molin also allegedly told the employee he intentionally wrecked his van because he was mad about court issues.

Those court issues appear to be a hearing scheduled for Sept. 1 during which Molin was to transfer ownership of two properties to his mother. The nursing home would then take ownership of the properties to allow Emily Molin to continue to receive care.
[...]

“Steven stated he heard a thump and ran over her. Steven then advised he backed up and ran over her again. Steven said he thought the vehicle was on top of her, so he pulled forward over top of her a third time,” the probable cause documents states.

http://delcotimes.com/articles/2010/...c530042470.txt

[Dakota Valkyrie]

A Darby, Pa., man convicted in the murder of his mother was sentenced to 25 years in prison during a Worcester County Circuit Court hearing Friday morning.

Steven Molin, 58, was convicted of second-degree murder in March in the death of his 85-year-old mother, Emily Molin, after he allegedly ran her over several times with a vehicle on a rural road near Berlin. He was acquitted of a first-degree murder charge.

Before Judge Thomas Groton handed down his sentence, Molin spoke in the courtroom for more than 30 minutes about the care he used to give his mother, the amount of money he spent on ensuring her well-being and his anger with the staff at the nursing home she had been living in until the day of her death.

Molin said once during the address that he was sorry his mother had died "in the accident."

"That was the extent of his remorse," said Groton, who also described testimony from responders to the scene who said Molin had been "somewhat calm" while his mother was lying in the middle of the road.

"For me, that bolsters the state's argument and the jury's findings that this was an intentional act," Groton said.

Molin continued to insist his mother's death was accidental during the trial and sentencing, something Groton said he believes Molin is using as a defense mechanism to avoid the remorse he would otherwise feel for his actions.

During State's Attorney Beau Oglesby's address to Groton, he mentioned Molin's conviction of murder, and Molin interjected, exclaiming that "it was an accident."

Molin was reprimanded by Groton for his outburst.

Oglesby sought the maximum sentence of 30 years for Molin's crime, due to the state's belief that Molin had "intentionally and deliberately killed his mom."

In Molin's account, he and his mother drove from Pennsylvania to visit his father's gravesite in Berlin. Molin had taken his mother from the nursing home without permission, according to trial testimony. He told police his mother had accidentally fallen out of the car, and he had not noticed when she did.

The case was one of the most unusual Groton has seen on the bench, the judge said. In some ways, Steven Molin is very intelligent, he said, but it had also become clear to him that there was "a piece missing" mentally.

Groton said Molin's autism and Asperger's syndrome are no excuse for what he did, and they don't prevent similar actions from happening again.

"Killing a parent is one of the most horrendous acts," Groton said before announcing the sentence.

Molin said to his public defender, Burton Anderson, after the hearing that the outcome was "a death sentence" for him.

http://www.delmarvanow.com/apps/pbcs...10332/1002/rss

[princessgrandma]

There obviously was enough pieces there mentally for this asshole to get pissed and run over his mom multiple times. I say he got exactly what he deserved. Yes, he cared for her all those years b/c he HAD to. Then when he was going to have to sign property over for her care, he got pissed and didn't want to do it. The property meant more to him than her, so he got rid of her.

[walkingeagle]

I'm thinking the property is more at issue here as well! It would be nicwe to see whether this was his property all along, or if it was transferred to him before she went to the other facility. Either way, he killed her!