Double Homicide Suspect Pleads Not Guilty

Zackariah Timothy Lehnen pleaded not guilty today to charges that he murdered a woman and an 89-year-old man whose bodies were found in the senior's Culver City home.

Lehnen, a 30-year-old transient, is charged with two counts of murder in the May 2 knife slayings of Lucien Bergez and Erica Escobar, 27, of Santa Monica.

The criminal complaint includes the special circumstance allegations of multiple murders, murder during the course of a robbery and murder involving the infliction of torture.

Lehnen, who was arrested in West Hollywood on May 5, is the only suspect in connection with the double homicide. According to parolee documents, Lehnen was released late last year on non-revocable parole status, which is a new California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation measure that allows "low-level" parolees to be out in society without supervision. Critics have condemned the new law as a mere cost-saving measure that allows those who need supervision to be without it.

Officers were called to the modest home in the 4000 block of Huron
Avenue near Washington Boulevard around 10 a.m. May 3 after the bodies were discovered inside the home. Police were called by a maid who "saw something that she believed was a cause for concern," Culver City Police Department Chief Don Pederson said at a news conference after the bodies were discovered.

The victims died of multiple blunt and sharp force injuries.

Lehnen has remained jailed since his arrest. He is due at the Airport Branch Courthouse in Los Angeles on Sept. 15, when a date is scheduled to be set for a hearing to determine whether there is enough evidence to require him to stand trial.

City News Service contributed to this report.