Martial Arts Expert Will Stand Trial in Slaying : Santa Clarita: Stuart Edward Milburn is accused of strangling Veronica Estrada, a tae kwon do studio co-worker.

A martial arts expert was ordered Wednesday to stand trial on a charge of murdering a female co-worker who was one of the top-ranked tae kwon do competitors in the country.

Stuart Edward Milburn, 27, is accused of strangling Veronica Estrada, 29, of Canyon Country along Soledad Canyon Road about 8:15 p.m. on Dec. 15. He is in custody without bail and could receive the death penalty if convicted.

Defense attorney Darryl Mounger tried during the second day of Milburn’s preliminary hearing in Newhall Municipal Court to counter testimony that three people saw Milburn at or near the murder scene. Lisa Smith-Putnam, an adult student at Taekwondo USA in Canyon Country, where Milburn and Estrada taught, testified for the defense that she saw Milburn while she was participating in a class.

“It had to be around 8:20 to 8:25 p.m.,” she said. “Mr. Milburn was in the hallway of the school. He was placing a (Christmas) card in my gym bag.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert Foltz questioned how accurate her memory of the time was and why none of the other students saw Milburn then. In addition, Foltz pointed out that even if her story is true, it contradicts Milburn, who said he was at a video store continuously between 8 and 9 p.m.

Estrada, who primarily taught 5- to 8-year-olds at the studio, was the American Taekwondo Assn.’s top-ranked female competitor in the second-level black belt division. Her partially clothed body was discovered hidden in brush Dec. 16, and coroner’s officials said she died of strangulation, possibly during or after a sexual assault.

Noah Ben-Menashe, a College of the Canyons student, testified that at 8:17 p.m. she drove by a person who appeared to be dragging someone down an embankment on Soledad Canyon Road near where Estrada’s body was found. Ben-Menashe picked Milburn from a photo lineup of six men as the person she believed to be the man she saw.

Officials and members of the tae kwon do studio say Milburn, also a black belt, may have been motivated to kill Estrada out of professional jealousy over her achievements. Milburn and Estrada had both worked for the studio for about six years and were friends at first, but developed personal differences that they tried to work out on numerous occasions, said Ken Lewis, owner of the studio.

Judge Keith Byrum denied Mounger’s motion calling for the case to be dismissed due to insufficient evidence. Byrum also kept in place three special circumstances allegations of lying in wait, forcible sodomy and attempted rape. Milburn will be arraigned May 11 in Superior Court in Van Nuys.

Mounger, who has emphasized that there is no physical evidence against Milburn, said he will introduce physical evidence at trial indicating that a different person is responsible for the killing.

However, Sgt. Doral Riggs, a homicide detective with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, said all current physical evidence has been evaluated and does not point to there being any other suspect.