CALIFORNIA BRIEFING / NEWPORT BEACH
A UC Irvine graduate student was charged Tuesday with killing his ex-wife because of a custody dispute over their 4-year-old son.
Brian Hughes Benedict, 35, did not enter a plea during the hearing at the Newport Beach courthouse because his attorney is out of the country, said Michael Jacobs, who appeared on behalf of Benedict’s lawyer, Ron Cordova.
The arraignment was continued to Oct. 2.
Benedict is facing charges of one felony count of murder with a sentencing enhancement for personally discharging a firearm and causing the death of Rebecca Benedict, 30. Their son was not injured.
The shooting Sunday was the first homicide on the UC Irvine campus.
-- Tami Abdollah
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