VAN NUYS : Man, Ex-Girlfriend Plead Innocent in Beating Death
A Big Bear man and his ex-girlfriend pleaded innocent Tuesday to murder and conspiracy charges in the 1991 beating death of his wife.
Dennis Roland Dawley, 59, and Brandita Taliano, 39, entered their pleas before Van Nuys Municipal Court Commissioner Gerald Richardson. They remain in custody without bail pending a June 9 conference to schedule a preliminary hearing.
Prosecutors allege that Dawley and Taliano, who was in prison for petty theft when she was charged in this case, plotted the killing of 55-year-old Joan Dawley.
The defendants were arrested after investigators used a new genetic fingerprinting technique, which linked scrapings collected from underneath the victim’s fingernails to Taliano, according to prosecutors.
The killing is believed to have been motivated by greed for the victim’s assets--including money and a house--which her husband stood to inherit.
Dennis Dawley was living in the mountain town of Big Bear with his wife of three months, Carolyn, at the time of his arrest. He and Taliano are charged with murder, conspiracy to commit murder and solicitation to commit murder.
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