Family angry at DA's Office

Relatives of the Poway couple killed in their home on Easter Sunday by a neighbor blamed the District Attorney’s Office Tuesday for the deaths and read from a letter written by one of the victims that eerily predicted what was to come.

The neighbor, Robert Reed, had stabbed two members of the family in 2008, leading to criminal charges that prosecutors later dropped. About 6 p.m. Sunday, Reed shot to death Mitch Cunnyngham, 58, and his wife, Diane “Dee Dee” Cunnyngham, 56.

After the incident in 2008, Mitch Cunnyngham wrote to the lead prosecutor, Michael Zachry, “By doing this you have emboldened Mr. Reed.”

Cunnyngham said Reed had access to many weapons that were found in his home during a police search.

“What will now be the weapon of his choice?” he wrote. “The only weapon my family has is common sense, four video cameras, avoidance and fear ... What’s next? Who’s next? And what will be the result? You and the DA’s Office will carry this burden with you when it happens.”

Zachry did not return a call seeking comment. A spokesman for the District Attorney’s Office said a statement released Monday will be its only response: “Charges against Robert Reed were dismissed in 2008 after conflicting evidence came to light. ... It is our ethical duty as prosecutors to continually evaluate the strength of our cases and dismiss charges when appropriate.”

Reed, 59, was shot and killed by sheriff’s deputies as he pointed a shotgun at them. His death ended a feud with the Cunnynghams that had lasted more than a decade.

About a dozen relatives of the Cunnynghams’ gathered Tuesday outside the couple’s house on Olive Grove Place to speak to the news media.

“Two days ago, a man named Robert Clifford Reed took it upon himself to brutally terrorize and in cold blood mindlessly murder my parents,” said David Cunnyngham, one of Reed’s stabbing victims in 2008.

“The events leading up to this past weekend were the culmination of childish fistfights, meaningless exchanging of words, wasted court proceedings, and even more seriously, a stabbing incident in which I am convinced Mr. Reed was intent on ending my life.”

Cunnyngham said his parents were so concerned about Reed that they installed surveillance cameras outside their house. He said the county Sheriff’s Department now has the tapes, which he said show much of Reed’s assault and may include images of him returning to his house to get another gun after the first misfired.

Cunnyngham said he believes Reed would have killed his wife, Myrna, and their 8-year-old daughter, Gabriella, who were hiding in a bathroom when the shootings occurred in the family room. He said he doesn’t know what sparked the rage.

Reed was an ex-naval officer and longtime employee of General Atomics as a technical writer and editor. In 2008, he was charged with assault with a deadly weapon after he stabbed David Cunnyngham and his mother during an altercation. Reed was headed for trial when the District Attorney’s Office dropped the case.

“Was there nothing that the justice system could have done to punish this man for the prior incidents?” David Cunnyngham asked.

Don Cunnyngham, Mitch’s brother, said the family has hired a lawyer to consider suing the county.

Former District Attorney Paul Pfingst, who is now in private practice, said such a lawsuit would be very difficult to win.

“Prosecutorial and judicial immunity are two of the strongest immunities in civil law,” Pfingst said. “It’s designed to stop second-guessing in these types of situations. The prospects of success in such a suit are extremely remote.”