MONTEREY PARK : Man Pleads Not Guilty in Murder of His Tenant
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A Monterey Park man pleaded not guilty in Superior Court on Tuesday to charges that he murdered and dismembered his tenant, then burned the body parts and threw them in a trash bin.
Pasadena Superior Court Judge Jack B. Tso ordered Peter Earl Burza back to court April 4 for a pretrial hearing. The defendant remains in custody in lieu of $1 million bail.
Burza was arrested Oct. 28 in connection with the death of 42-year-old Craig Russell Kensinger, who had been renting a room from the defendant.
Police said they arrested Burza after arriving at his home and seeing smoke rising from the chimney, then smelling the pungent odor of burned flesh.
Employees at a nearby gas station said they saw Burza throwing something into their trash bin. When they investigated, they smelled a foul odor and saw a toe protruding from a sheet, according to police.
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