Authorities have finally announced that a body discovered in a Los Angeles apartment earlier this month was Todd Wallace--the paparazzo accused of harassing Reese Witherspoon and her brood at a Disney theme park last fall.
Wallace was found dead in his Brentwood digs on Feb. 5. Neither police nor the coroner immediately identified the body as the 44-year-old photographer, but friends who discovered the corpse indicated that it was indeed him.
Brenda Shafer, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County coroner, confirmed Friday that it was Wallace but said toxicology tests were needed before a cause of death could be determined. Those tests could take six to eight weeks.
Witherspoon and Wallace's lives intersected last September, when the Walk the Line star was celebrating her daughter's sixth birthday at Disney's California Adventure.
Police said Wallace became enraged when the group declined to be photographed at close range, and ended up shoving one child out of the way while whacking another with his camera in his attempt to get the photos.
Two theme park employees attempted to restrain Wallace when he reportedly struck them, shouted curses at Witherspoon and caused several children to burst into tears.
The Anaheim district attorney slapped Wallace with six misdemeanor charges, to which he pleaded not guilty across the board. The shutterbug claimed to have photos and videotape of the incident proving his innocence. Should he have been convicted on the charges, he would have faced up to three and a half years behind bars.
He was free pending trial, but after racking up an unrelated shoplifting charge and then failing to show for a bail hearing in December, a judge issued a warrant for Wallace's arrest.
The charges against Wallace, who spent more than four years in prison after a 1993 burglary rap, have been rendered moot.
Witherspoon, meanwhile, has racked up an impressive array of accolades and vies for the top prize next weekend when she is considered the favorite for Best Actress at the Oscars.