GLENDALE : Judge Orders Trial in Double Slaying

A 20-year-old man was bound over for trial on charges that he fatally stabbed a co-worker’s two roommates last November in Glendale.

Marvin Edward Johnson III of Anaheim faces two murder counts in the deaths of Jerry Shane Morgan, 22, and Thomas Lee Patrick, 20. The district attorney’s office still could charge Johnson with special circumstances, multiple murders, that could result in the death penalty upon conviction, prosecutors say. Arraignment was set for May 25 in Pasadena Superior Court.

During Monday’s preliminary hearing in Glendale Municipal Court, police testified about motive and an apparent confession. Detective Larry Cobb of the Glendale Police Department based his testimony on two interviews with Steven Bryan, who shared a duplex in the 1100 block of Allen Avenue with the victims. Johnson had worked as a legal assistant for a Santa Ana law firm and helped Bryan get a job there, prosecutors said. Cobb said Bryan told Johnson that he was upset with Morgan for inviting Patrick to live with them.

“Johnson told him (Bryan) he would take care of everything. . . . He would cut the victims’ eyes out and cut their genitals off,” Cobb said.

Investigators believe that Johnson stabbed Morgan three times outside the duplex before chasing Patrick down the street, catching him and stabbing him three times.