PASADENA : Murder Suspect Changes Plea, Admits to Killings
During the eighth day of a murder trial in Pasadena Superior Court, a San Bernardino man last week decided to change his plea of not guilty and admitted killing a Pasadena couple two years ago.
Nicholas Martin, 20, pleaded guilty Aug. 2 to the 1992, murders of Jeffrey Venable, 25, and his girlfriend, Robyn Braxton, 20. He will be sentenced Aug. 30 and could receive 56 years to life in state prison, said his attorney, Michael Shannon. Martin’s co-defendant, Cedric Singleton of Pasadena, a lifelong friend of the couple, faces a separate trial Aug. 22.
The murders puzzled police and prosecutors who still have not found a motive, authorities said. An apartment manager found Venable dead in the couple’s Pasadena apartment. The couple’s 11-month old infant son was alive, lying on top of his dead father. Braxton’s body turned up later along a remote creek in San Bernardino County.
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