Ex-Delco officer, awaiting murder trial, admits stalking in separate case

A former Delaware County police officer awaiting trial in the slaying of an ex-girlfriend pleaded guilty Monday to stalking another woman.

Stephen Rozniakowski, 33, of Norwood, was sentenced in Montgomery County to 23 months in prison as part of a plea deal under which 75 counts of stalking and harassment were reduced to one count of stalking.

His attorney said the plea would allow Rozniakowski to focus on the murder charges he faces in Delaware County, where prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

Rozniakowski, a former Colwyn Borough police officer, was charged in Montgomery County in April 2014 with stalking an ex-fiancee. Prosecutors said six months of harassment began after the woman broke off her engagement with Rozniakowski in September 2013.

"He would not let her have peace," said Assistant District Attorney Brianna Ringwood. "He called repeatedly at all hours of the day and night. He called her cellphone, he called her at work, he called family and friends. He texted her incessantly."

While out on bail in the case involving his ex-fiancee, Rozniakowski began dating Valerie Morrow, whom he is charged with killing.

He began stalking Morrow when she ended their relationship, police said, and in December broke into her Glenolden, Delaware County, house, killed her, and shot her daughter, they said.

The two cases are "totally unrelated," said defense attorney Martin Mullaney.

But prosecutors in Delaware County could choose to use the stalking case as evidence in the murder trial, Ringwood said.

"My client made a prudent decision today to enter a guilty plea in this case so he can focus his attention on his much more serious charges in Delaware County," said Mullaney, who is not representing Rozniakowski in the murder case.

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