Homeless man pleads not guilty to strangling 2 women in Santa Monica
A homeless man who is accused of strangling two people in Santa Monica more than a decade ago pleaded not guilty Thursday to murder charges, prosecutors said.
The man, Edric Dashell Gross, 48, faces two counts of murder with enhancements connected to the rape of both victims and the burglarizing of one of their homes, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.
Gross is accused of strangling Dana Caper, 41, and Jacqueline Lee Ovsak, 42. Ovsak’s body was found in 2001 in an abandoned building on 7th Street. Caper’s body was found in Palisades Park in 2002.
After the cases went cold, detectives picked them up again several years later. Gross was arrested in August 2012 at Pan Pacific Park.
He is due in court for a pretrial hearing on Dec.10.
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