By ROD LEVEQUE
Pasadena Star-News (California)
Copyright 2006 MediaNews Group, Inc. and Los Angeles Newspaper Group, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. — A Pasadena firefighter accused of stabbing his wife to death with a samurai sword pleaded not guilty to a murder charge Monday.
Michael Burton entered the plea with the help of a public defender during a brief hearing in West Valley Superior Court.
He was ordered to return to court this morning after he told Judge Katrina West he hired a private attorney to represent him.
Prosecutors say Burton, 45, killed his wife, Otilia, inside their Rancho Cucamonga home July 16.
The sword slaying apparently occurred while two of the couple’s children also were in the home in the 10300 block of Cartilla Court.
Deputies went to the house in the early morning hours in response to a 9-1-1 call reporting a suicidal man at the home.
When they arrived, Burton barricaded himself inside, deputies said.
He later released his two children through an upstairs window.
When SWAT officers finally gained entry, they found Otilia Burton, 35, dead on the floor from stab wounds, and Michael trying to stab himself with a knife, according to police reports.
Michael Burton was hospitalized through last week for treatment of the self-inflicted injuries.
A sheriff’s spokeswoman said Monday she could not ascertain when Burton was released from the hospital, though she confirmed he is now in county jail.
Burton appeared in court Monday dressed in a jail-issued jumpsuit. Bandages and stitches were visible around his neck and hands.
Besides pleading not guilty to murder, he also denied an allegation he used a knife to kill his wife.
The judge ordered Burton held without bail.