by Eric Burbeg, Jr.
A family of four was found dead in their home of N4825 North Gossard Road on Thursday, February 1, 1990, according to Marquette County Sheriff Dave Langley said. Anthony Maloch and his family of four were all found dead due to horrific and violent deaths, but even more disturbingly, spanning a seven-month period of last calendar year.
“We received a call from a meter reader for the gas com- pany that saw the body of Anthony Maloch on the couch. It just got worse and worse from there in just a gruesome scene that none of us had ever seen before,” Langley said.
Maloch, his wife Freya and his children Edward and Elana were discovered further inside the residence, with evidence suggesting different manners of death for each person. Edward and Freya are ruled to be victims of Anthony, while Freya is also believed to be somehow involved in Edward’s death.
According to the report, Edward was the first victim. He was stabbed to death in the hallway with a screwdriver, evidence shown. However, he was found sitting at the kitchen table, tied to a chair so the body would remain upright, as if it was eating. Food of various states of decay was in front of him, suggesting that the remaining family members would eat meals with the body. The autopsy stated that he died four months before anyone else in the house.
Freya was found in the back room of the house, sprawled over a broken book- case. Coroner Magnuson Deban said she suffered elongated traumatic injuries due to repeated movement of a projectile in the wound.
“Based on the way she was found by investigators and findings in my report, the two adults were engaged in intercourse when they knocked over the bookshelf,” his report said. “He became enraged, struck her multiple times and used a piece of the broken shelf to impale her through her abdominal cavity. While she was incapacitated, he continued intercourse, leading to odd shapes of the wound and massive blood loss.”
The death of Anthony differs between the coroner and the sheriff. What they agree on is that Anthony sat down in front of the television with a bottle of alcohol. Anthony never got up. “He had a big bump and bruising visible despite decay that suggests he sustained a head injury while killing his wife. We believe that the alco- hol mixed with the head injury killed him,” Langley said.
The coroner said the time of death did not match that narrative. Deban estimated time of death of Freya was in mid to late August. He said Anthony died a month later with evidence showing that he was held down for some time.
“Anthony had binding marks on his wrists and ankles suggesting he was kept in place on that couch and died much later,” the coroner said.
All this time, poor Elana was left locked in her room. A padlock on the outside of her bedroom door, Elana was un- able to escape. At just eight years old, she later died of malnutrition and dehydra- tion, roughly two to three weeks after her parents.
“We cannot determine how long she was kept in that room to begin with or why her parents would even dream of locking her up that way,” Langley said. “But we were all heartbroken by the sight of her doll-like body in her bed.”
No charges are expected to be filed at this time.
