Love triangle murder. Skateboard getaway. Remember when school used to be reading, writing and arithmetic? Now it's a case for Forensic Files.
April 4, 2008 - Brandon Landreth, 30, a history teacher at John Muir High School, was arrested and being being held as the prime suspect in the fatal shooting of a 25-year-old man at a hillside home in Arcadia earlier this week. He was booked on suspicion of murder.
Authorities would not say what led them to Landreth, nor would they discuss a possible motive for the slaying of Justo Cesar Morales, who was found shot in his parents' Canyon Road home in northern Arcadia on Sunday.
Sargeant Dean Caputo of the Arcadia Police department said that Landreth apparently "held a grudge against Mr. Morales who had dated his ex-wife." Landreth is being held on $2.05 million bail. He will be arraigned April 17.
Full Name: Brandon Michael Landreth
ABC7 news report is bizarre.
"Mr. Morales was dating a woman apparently a couple of years ago. She was separated from her husband; her husband apparently carried this grudge. He drove up to the location where Mr. Morales lives, on Sunday -- actually rode up on a skateboard from his car -- shot Mr. Morales a number of times in the doorway of his home, and then rode a skateboard back to his car and drove off," said Arcadia Police Sgt. Dean Caputo.TT - Location is always school. Landreth reportedly lives in Monrovia.
Los Angeles Sheriff's Department Inmate Information entry
NOT GUILTY PLEA April 17 - At his arraignment Ladreth pleaded not guilty. Court documents state that Landreth had confessed to his ex-wife that he shot Morales, according to police and court documents. Another witness who came forward, a friend of Landreth's, said the suspect also confessed to him that he killed Morales, Caputo said. That witness described details of the shooting scene that were known only to investigators.
An eyewitness saw a silver Volkswagon at the time of the murder. That is also the color and make of Landreth's car.
NO BAIL Investigators wanted an increase in bail, citing items found in his car when he was stopped three days after the murder. The items included camping gear, a backpack full of clothing and other articles, and $9,000 in cash Landreth had withdrawn from his bank. The judge ordered him held without bail.
NO CONTEST PLEA Jan 31, 2001 -
On Jan. 14, Landreth pleaded no contest to the charges of murder in the first degree and committing a crime with a deadly weapon. The Risdons agreed to the no-contest plea, which came with a minimum prison sentence of 32½ years without the possibility of parole.
A sentencing and restitution hearing is scheduled for Feb. 22 at the Pasadena Courthouse.
