Judge Will Decide if Killer of Popular Pasadena Chef and His Wife Was Sane at Time of Murders

Jacob Mallory Bersson pleaded no contest Thursday to two counts of murder in the stabbing deaths of popular Pasadena chef Lawrence Bressler and his wife Denise in their home over five years ago, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.

Bersson, 34, is due back in the Pasadena Courthouse in January 2020, a spokesman for the District Attorney said Friday.

“Mr. Bersson pleaded no contest to two counts of murder and admitted the special circumstance allegation of multiple murders,” Greg Risling,Public Information Office at the District Attorney’s Office, said. “He is scheduled to return to court on January 15 for a judge to determine whether he was sane or insane at the time of the slayings.”

Risling added that is Bersson is found sane, he will be likely be sentenced to prison by the judge.

“If he’s found insane, he could be sent to a state mental hospital,” Risling said.

Bersson also admitted the allegation that he personally used a knife in the killings, the District Attorney’s office said.

The murders happened in the early morning of October 13, 2014. The defendant was living with the Bresslers at the couple’s apartment in the 200 block of North Madison Avenue in Pasadena at the time of the attack, a Pasadena Police Department investigation showed. Court records showed Bersson had just recently moved from Florida to Pasadena that year.

Police said Bersson forced his way into the Bresslers’ bedroom as the couple was asleep and stabbed the victims repeatedly with a knife.

Investigators said Lawrence Bressler was able to call 911 before 6:30 a.m. and identified Bersson as the attacker. Bressler later died in surgery; his wife Denise had died shortly after arriving at a hospital.

Bersson was arrested on the day of the murders. He could face life in prison without the possibility of parole if he is found to have been sane at the time of the crimes, the District Attorney’s office said.