Va. man hunted in slaying of NY schools leader

MAYVILLE, N.Y. — A nationwide search has begun for a Virginia man believed to have driven to upstate New York last week to kill the superintendent of a small school district, police said Thursday.

Police in Clymer, near the Pennsylvania border, believe Anthony Taglianetti II, 42, of Woodbridge, Va., went to New York last Friday night to shoot 51-year-old Keith Reed Jr., then returned to Virginia.

The slaying was unconnected to Reed’s job as school superintendent, officials said. They believe they know the motive, but they would not divulge it. Police have ruled out murder for hire or a drug-related killing, Chautauqua County Sheriff Joseph Gerace said.

“They were not unfamiliar with one another,” said county District Attorney David Foley. “This was a personal issue and not a professional one.”

Authorities settled on Taglianetti after collecting evidence and witness statements; they say he acted alone. A nationwide alert was issued, and local, state and federal law enforcement were searching for Taglianetti.

Reed was reported missing Sunday evening after missing some engagements; his body was found Monday about 150 feet from his home in Clymer, 70 miles south of Buffalo near Pennsylvania.

The sheriff’s office had found no sign of foul play at the home in Clymer, a small town of about 1,500 people in the southwestern corner of New York, on Sunday but returned to the property on Monday, Gerace told reporters.

Reed had been superintendent of the single-building Clymer Central School District and its 468 students since November. His funeral is Friday in his hometown of Salamanca.