Local News in Brief : Not-Guilty Plea Made in Deaths of 2 Officers
A North Hollywood television and film makeup artist pleaded not guilty Thursday in the Feb. 8 bomb deaths of two Los Angeles police explosives experts.
Donald Lee Morse, 36, who had changed from jail clothing into a three-piece gray suit for the arraignment on murder charges, told San Fernando Municipal Court Commissioner Charles L. Peven: “I am not guilty, your honor.”
Peven set Morse’s preliminary hearing for April 7 in Los Angeles Municipal Court.
Deputy Dist. Atty. Sterling E. Norris said investigators have substantial evidence linking Morse to the pipe bomb that exploded in his garage while members of the police bomb squad were attempting to defuse it.
Killed in the explosion were Detective Arleigh McCree, 46, commander of the bomb squad, and Officer Ron Ball, 43.
Police discovered the bomb while searching Morse’s home for a gun believed to have been used in an attack a few days earlier on an official of the Makeup Artists and Hairstylists Union Local 706. Although a pistol was found in Morse’s house, it was ruled out as the weapon used in the wounding of the union official, police said.
Norris said prosecutors need not prove that Morse planned to kill the officers, only that, by possessing a bomb, he intended to harm someone.
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