Accused Double Murderer Pleads not Guilty

Jacob Mallory Bersson, accused of killing Pasadena chef Lawrence Bressler and his wife Denise in 2014, pleaded not guilty to the charge of two counts of murder Thursday, May 19, at the Pasadena Courthouse.

He is now scheduled to appear in court on June 30 for a pretrial hearing, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office said.

The charges against Bersson, 29, include the special circumstance allegation of multiple murders, along with an allegation that he personally used a knife in the murders that occurred on October 13, 2014.

Lawrence “Larry” Bressler was Bersson’s cousin. He taught at the Le Cordon Bleu cooking school in Pasadena for 11 years and was director of operations for Chefs Center of California, a commercial food-preparation and education center in Pasadena.

Court records say Bersson had recently moved to California from Florida and was living with the couple at 290 N. Madison Avenue in Pasadena.

Police said Bersson allegedly forced his way into the Bresslers’ bedroom in the morning of October 13, 2014, and stabbed them repeatedly with a knife. They said Larry Bressler was able to call 911 before 6:30 a.m. and identified his cousin as the attacker.

Bressler later died in surgery. His wife had died shortly after arriving at a hospital.

Bersson was arrested on the day of the murders and has since not been released from the Los Angeles County Jail.