Allen Gould Charged With Murder of Anna Maciejewska

Allen Gould, a 60-year-old man from Malvern, Pennsylvania, has been charged with the murder of his wife, Anna Maciejewska, who disappeared in 2017 at age 43 and whose body has never been found. He was arrested on May 15, 2025, after an eight-year investigation and faces counts of first-degree murder, third-degree murder, criminal homicide, abuse of a corpse, false reports, unsworn falsification to authorities, and tampering with physical evidence.¹ Gould is being held without bail at the Chester County Prison and is scheduled for trial beginning June 29, 2026, before Judge Patrick Carmody in the Chester County Court of Common Pleas.²

Who Anna Maciejewska Was

Anna Maciejewska was a Polish-born mother who had worked for the financial services company Voya in West Chester, Pennsylvania, for roughly 17 years. She commuted daily in a blue Audi A4 and lived with Gould and their four-year-old son in Malvern.¹

Prosecutors believe her life “came to an abrupt stop” on March 29, 2017. Her company laptop powered down for the last time at 3:07 p.m. that day, and her family in Poland could no longer reach her by phone after that date.¹³ Gould did not report her missing until April 12, 2017. A coworker and a neighbor had already contacted Pennsylvania State Police the day before after she failed to show up for work two days in a row. Gould told police he had last seen her the morning of April 10, when she left for work “in a panic” without her phone.⁴

What Prosecutors Say the Motive Was

The prosecution has described the couple’s relationship as a “troubled marriage.” Investigators recovered divorce paperwork from the home and notes from a “Divorce 101” class Maciejewska had been attending.⁵ Her browsing history included more than 150 visits to sites about divorce and abuse, with searches for “signs of emotional abuse,” “narcissistic personality disorder,” and “how to divorce an emotionally abusive husband.”⁶

Custody of the couple’s son was a particular source of friction. The boy held a Polish passport, and Gould reportedly feared losing his parental rights if Maciejewska took their son to Poland.⁷ Chester County District Attorney Christopher de Barrena-Sarobe said there was no evidence Maciejewska would have voluntarily abandoned her son.⁸

The Evidence Against Gould

Because no body has been recovered, the case is built on forensic, digital, and behavioral evidence assembled over eight years.

The Car Data Contradicting His Story

Gould told police his wife drove her Audi to work on April 10, 2017. Data from the car’s internal computer showed it was never started that day. The vehicle was last moved at roughly 1:30 a.m. on April 11. Investigators later located the Audi in an overflow lot near the couple’s home. It had been “thoroughly cleaned,” the driver’s seat was adjusted to a position inconsistent with Maciejewska’s height, and a white substance was found on the door handle.¹

Messages Sent From Her Accounts After She Vanished

Prosecutors allege Gould used his wife’s phone and email to impersonate her after she was already dead. Between April 3 and April 5, 2017, messages went out from her accounts to coworkers and family claiming she was sick, which investigators say were sent to “buy time” before anyone reported her missing.¹

One message stood out. On March 30, 2017, Maciejewska’s father in Poland received a birthday text in Polish that contained grammatical errors a fluent speaker would not make. A 2017 search of Gould’s home turned up a printed Google Translate page showing research on how to say “happy birthday” in Polish.⁴ The district attorney has said the message was written in “broken” Polish despite Maciejewska being a native speaker.¹

Physical Evidence at the Home

In July 2017, Pennsylvania State Police and Chester County detectives executed a search warrant at the Gould residence. A cadaver dog alerted to the northeast corner of the property, where investigators found disturbed soil, burnt debris, and a small piece of tarp.¹⁹³

The same dog alerted to the trunk of the Audi. DNA testing there identified two profiles: one Gould’s, the other unidentified.⁹ Professional cleaners who came to the home shortly after the disappearance said the master bathroom sinks were unusually clean, “as though no one had used them,” and that old rags in the house had all been replaced with new ones.¹

Searches, a Burner Phone, and a $75,000 Check

On April 24, 2017, after his wife had been reported missing, Gould’s hard drive showed he clicked a link leading to a definition of “violent crimes strangulation.” State police called this significant because no one had publicly accused him of strangling his wife. Investigators also found he had researched criminal defense attorneys on an external hard drive, and Gould admitted activating a burner phone in June 2017, claiming he feared his personal phone was bugged.¹⁰ Shortly after investigators told him he was a suspect, he hired a lawyer and wrote a check for $75,000 with the memo line “trial defense if needed.”⁵

What Family and Friends Told Investigators

At the preliminary hearing in June 2025, Maciejewska’s brother-in-law Leszek Wronski testified that Gould provided “little help” during the search and had to be begged to call police.⁵ Her mother, Janina Maciejewska, testified that Gould was “curt and angry” when the family reached him and that messages received from Anna’s accounts after her disappearance had been written by Gould.¹⁰ A state trooper who took the initial missing-persons report testified that Gould appeared “uninterested” and that the two-day gap between when Gould claimed he last saw his wife and when he filed a report was a “red flag.”⁹

Why the Charges Took Eight Years

The investigation was led by the Pennsylvania State Police, working with the Chester County District Attorney’s Office and Chester County detectives.¹¹⁰⁸ Maciejewska’s family in Poland also hired a private investigator during the intervening years, though what that investigation uncovered has not been publicly disclosed.

How a Murder Case Proceeds Without a Body

Prosecutors are not required to produce a victim’s body to bring a homicide charge. Under the doctrine of corpus delicti, they must establish that a death occurred and that it resulted from criminal means. Pennsylvania requires that showing to be made independently of any statement by the defendant, a safeguard against convictions based solely on confessions or admissions.¹¹ In Gould’s case, the prosecution is relying on the accumulated circumstantial evidence to argue that Maciejewska was killed and that Gould concealed her remains. De Barrena-Sarobe characterized the “direct evidence” as Gould’s “lies about her disappearance that don’t make sense,” saying those deceptions were designed to cover up the killing.¹²

The Defense

Gould is represented by attorney Evan Kelly, who has argued that the case is built on assumptions rather than proof.² Kelly has pointed to the absence of a body, an autopsy, eyewitnesses, and a murder weapon, contending that the lack of remains does not prove a murder occurred.⁵ After the arrest, Kelly said his client had endured “years of innuendo” and was “looking forward to the opportunity to clear his name in court.”¹

Where the Case Stands Now

After a two-day preliminary hearing on June 23 and 25, 2025, District Justice James Kovaleski ruled there was sufficient evidence for the case to proceed to trial.³ The case is listed on the Chester County criminal trial schedule for the session beginning June 29, 2026, before Judge Patrick Carmody.² Gould remains held without bail at the Chester County Prison.⁹

1
NBC Philadelphia. Arrest Made in 2017 Disappearance of Anna Maciejewska
2
Chester County Court of Common Pleas. Criminal Trial List, Carmody
3
6abc. Husband Charged in Killing of Wife Held for Trial in Chester County
4
ABC News. Man Arrested for Murder of Wife Who Vanished in 2017
5
CBS News Philadelphia. Anna Maciejewska Allen Gould Preliminary Hearing
6
People. Man Allegedly Murdered Wife Who Vanished Years Ago
7
Good Morning America. Man Arrested for Murder of Wife Who Vanished in 2017
8
6abc. Husband Charged With Murder of Anna Maciejewska
9
NBC Philadelphia. Anna Maciejewska Disappearance Husband Accused Case Held for Trial
10
6abc. Anna Maciejewska Death Allen Gould Preliminary Hearing
11
FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin. No-Body Homicide Cases: A Practical Approach
12
KCRA. Pennsylvania Cold Case Wife Murder