Worcester County investigators said Molin claimed that his mother, Emily, fell out of his work van while he was driving near Berlin, Md., and that he backed up when he realized that she had fallen, according to the Salisbury Daily Times.
Investigators said that Molin's account didn't quite add up. Emily Molin had been struck two or three times, the paper reported. She died from her injuries.
Worcester County authorities charged Molin with first- and second-degree murder and manslaughter, and held him without bond.
News of Emily Molin's death was still circulating through Darby yesterday, where the mere mention of her son's name prompted some to grumble that he always rubbed people the wrong way.
"He's been a mentally deranged person for years," said Brown, who noted that she'd known Molin and his mother for decades.
"He was just weird," she said. "[Emily] was the sweetest person. She never uttered a bad word to anyone. He was very controlling of her."
According to court records, Molin had numerous brushes with the law in Delaware County - and a handful of aliases to boot, including Wesley Chaplik and Clinton Cooper.
In 1982, he was convicted on aggravated assault charges, records show. It was unclear how much time he served.
Three years later, Molin was sentenced to two to four years in prison for receiving stolen property, records show. Earlier this year, he pleaded guilty to harassment charges.
Despite his criminal history, not everyone thought Molin was capable of killing his mother.
"He was a pain in the ass, but he wasn't a violent pain in the ass," noted Darby Police Chief Bob Smythe.
Smythe said that he found Molin's contention that he had accidentally run over his mother plausible.
"There are a lot of goofy things he does, but I can't imagine him murdering her," the chief added.
According to news reports, Molin picked up his mother on Tuesday from the Sterling Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center, in Media, where she lived.
A Sterling employee said last night that everyone at the nursing home was sad over Emily Molin's death, but declined to comment further.
It was unclear why Molin drove his mother to Maryland.
One news report claimed yesterday that the Delaware County Office of Services for the Aging had assigned Emily Molin a guardian because her son had previously abused her. The office couldn't be reached for comment.
Smythe said that Molin was known as a pack rat who filled his home, on Summit Street near Darby Terrace, with "deplorable" levels of junk, and had once burned down a dentist's office on MacDade Boulevard.
"He tried to put it out with a hose," Smythe said. "You wouldn't want him working on your house."
