A 29-year-old man pleaded not guilty Monday to fatally stabbing his cousin and his cousin’s wife in the Pasadena apartment where the three lived.
Jacob Mallory Bersson is facing two counts of murder in the Oct. 13 killings of Lawrence Bressler, 50, and Denise Bressler, 64. The charges include the special circumstance allegation of multiple murders, along with an allegation that he personally used a knife.
Prosecutors will decide later whether to seek the death penalty.
Lawrence Bressler was able to call 911 shortly before 6:30 a.m. that day and identify his cousin Jacob as his attacker, according to police.
His wife died shortly after arriving at a hospital.
Lawrence Bressler died in surgery, police said. He taught at Le Cordon Bleu cooking school in Pasadena for 11 years and was the director of operations for Chefs Center of California, a commercial food-preparation and education center.
Police found Bersson bloodied about a block from the apartment at 290 N. Madison Ave. and arrested him. No motive was disclosed.
Bersson is due back in court Jan. 27.
— City News Service