A man who allegedly fatally stabbed his cousin and his cousin’s wife in the Pasadena apartment where the three lived was charged today with murder.
Jacob Mallory Bersson, 29, was scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon in a Pasadena courtroom on two counts of murder in Monday’s killings of Lawrence Bressler, 50, and Denise Bressler, 64.
No motive was disclosed.
Police and paramedics were sent to an apartment building at 290 N. Madison Ave. shortly before 6:30 a.m. Monday.
“Mr. and Mrs. Bressler were repeatedly stabbed inside the apartment they shared with suspect Bersson,” Pasadena police Lt. Tracey Ibarra said. “Some time during the assault, Mr. Bressler called 911 for help and identified his cousin Jacob Bersson as the suspect.”
Police found Bersson bloodied about a block from the apartments and arrested him.
Denise Bressler died shortly after arriving at a hospital. Her husband died in surgery, police said.
Bersson was treated for a cut on his left arm before booking, Ibarra said.
Larry Bressler was the director of operations for Chefs Center of California, a commercial food-preparation and education center. He taught at Le Cordon Bleu cooking school in Pasadena for 11 years.
“Larry was an esteemed and well-regarded member of our team and the community at large,” the center said in a statement Monday. “He will be greatly missed.”
The murder charges include the special circumstance allegation of multiple murders, along with an allegation that he personally used a knife. Prosecutors will decide later whether to seek Bersson’s execution.
