Two Murders, One Suspect

The body of 11-year-old Gregory Katsnelson was found in a wooded area Thursday, and investigators were trying to determine how the boy died and whether his death was related to the slaying of a woman in nearby Medford on Thursday. A jogger found the boy's body Thursday afternoon near a pond in the Kings Grant Development in Evesham Township, N.J., said Sgt. Jack Smith, a spokesman for the Burlington County prosecutor's office. An autopsy was expected to be finished Friday afternoon, he said.

Neighbors said that Katsnelson had decided to stay home instead of going out with friends after school. When the friends returned to the house, Katsnelson was not there.

Katsnelson's body was found in the vicinity of the Medford home at 19 Huntington Circle where police said that Ronald Pituch, 26, beat his mother, 56-year-old Josephine Pituch, to death. He also reportedly tied up his 5-year-old niece and attacked a 62-year-old woman.

The child got free and went to the neighbors to tell them what happened.

A short time later Pituch reportedly drove his dirt bike to the police headquarters and turned himself in.

Pituch was charged with murder, and other charges were pending, authorities said. A preliminary hearing scheduled for Friday afternoon was postponed until next week.

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