Not-Guilty Plea Made in Slaying of a Widow, 74
A 26-year-old Pacoima man pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges that he sexually assaulted and then killed an elderly Porter Ranch widow last week.
Mario Sanchez Navarro is charged with one count of murder, and because it was committed during a burglary and a sexual assault, he faces the death penalty.
Navarro is also charged with one count each of burglary, attempted rape and forced oral copulation.
A preliminary hearing date will be set on June 15. He is being held without bail.
The nude and beaten body of Helen Forkner, 74, was found by police in a steep canyon behind her condominium shortly before 5:30 a.m. on May 10. Police had been summoned by neighbors who had heard noises from Forkner’s residence and saw a window screen that had been pried open.
Police arrested Navarro, who had been working at a nearby construction site, about 15 minutes after Forkner’s body was spotted by an airborne search-and-rescue team.
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