Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Martial Arts Expert Pleads Not Guilty to Murder Charge

A martial arts expert pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a charge of murdering a female co-worker who was one of the country’s top tae kwon do competitors.

Stuart Edward Milburn, 27, faces the death penalty if convicted of strangling Veronica Estrada, 29, as she walked along Soledad Canyon Road the night of Dec. 15. He is in custody without bail at Men’s Central Jail in Los Angeles.

Milburn has the right to a jury trial within 60 days of Wednesday’s arraignment, but he will probably waive that privilege so pretrial motions can be made by his attorney, Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert Foltz said.

Darryl Mounger, Milburn’s attorney, could not be reached Wednesday for comment. Pretrial motions will be heard June 8.

Estrada, who taught 5- to 8-year-olds at Taekwondo USA in Canyon Country, 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. Coroner’s officials said she died of strangulation, possibly during or after a sexual assault.

Witnesses said they saw Milburn struggling with another person who resembled Estrada near the site where her body was later found. However, Mounger has argued that there is no physical evidence against his client and that the eyewitness accounts are unreliable.