A Lansdale man faces a maximum nine years in prison for abuse of a corpse after he wrapped his dead friend — Bridgeport barber Daniel Torres, 33, of Quakertown — in a large contractor’s trash bag, placed him in the trunk of Torres’ car, and left the car in the parking lot of Twin Pines Apartments in April 2018.
Shamsuzzaman Mollan, 37, of Elm Drive, was convicted in a non-jury trial Montgomery County court this week on charges of abuse of a corpse, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, and theft by unlawful taking, according to court documents.
Mollah faces 4½ to 9 years in prison, but state sentencing guidelines could reduce the sentence. He is free on bail pending a sentencing hearing that will occur in the next few months.
It took investigators almost a year-and-a-half to make the arrest of Mollah.
Torres, who owned and operated “Danny’s Barbershop” in Bridgeport, was reported missing on May 3, 2018, by his mother. Police say that that he was last seen alive walking with a friend along the unit-block of Elm Drive during the early-morning hours of April 29, 2018.
According to police, a male person of interest was captured walking in the direction of the unit block of Elm Drive at 6:33 p.m. on April 29, 2018. Three minutes later, Torres’ white Nissan Altima was captured on surveillance crossing the intersection of East Seventh and North Broad streets, which are adjacent to the unit-block of Elm Drive. Then, at 6:49 p.m., Torres car was parked along the 700 block of North Valley Forge Road, and the same male person of interest was captured on surveillance walking away from the vehicle.
Click here to see the surveillance video
On May 9, 2018, the manager of the apartment complex along the 700 block of North Valley Forge Road called police to report the abandoned Altima. When police arrived, they discovered the vehicle was registered to Torres, and then found his body in the trunk.
According to a press release from the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, an autopsy was conducted on the body of Torres on May 10, 2018. Dr. Marianne Hammel, a forensic pathologist with the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office, found no signs of trauma and noted the presence of opioids and ethanol in Torres’ toxicology, leading Dr. Hammel to opine that Torres may have died as a result of opioid and ethanol intoxication. The cause and manner of death were found to be undetermined.
Per the release, a joint investigation by the Montgomery County Detective Bureau and Lansdale Police found that Torres, Mollah and another friend went to Creekside Cabaret in Colmar on the evening of April 28, 2018.
Mollah and Torres allegedly returned to Mollah’s residence on Elm Drive in Lansdale in the early morning hours of April 29, 2018, where Torres died, according to the DA’s office.
Detectives learned that at the time of Torres’ death, Mollah was under the supervision of the Montgomery County Adult Probation. Fearing that Torres’ death in his residence would cause a violation of his probation, Mollah allegedly hid the body inside the trunk of Torres’ Nissan Altima and drove the car to the Twin Pines Apartment parking lot.
See also:
Police Make Arrest in Death of Danny Torres
Lansdale Police Continue to Seek Leads in the Death of Danny Torres
