A man was in custody today for allegedly stabbing to death his cousin and his cousin’s wife in the Pasadena apartment where all three lived, authorities said.
Jacob Mallory Bersson, 29, was booked on suspicion of murder in the deaths of Lawrence Bressler, 50, and Denise Bressler, 64, said Pasadena police Lt. Tracey Ibarra.
No motive was disclosed. Police said Larry Bressler identified Bersson as his attacker but not disclose what else he or his wife might have said before they died.
Bersson was being held on $1 million bail, and arraignment was set for Wednesday at the Pasadena courthouse, Ibarra said.
Police and paramedics responded to 290 N. Madison Ave. shortly before 6:30 a.m. Monday, the Pasadena Fire Department reported.
“Mr. and Mrs. Bressler were repeatedly stabbed inside the apartment they shared with suspect Bersson,” Ibarra said in a statement. “Some time during the assault, Mr. Bressler called 911 for help and identified his cousin Jacob Bersson as the suspect.”
Police found Bersson about a block from the crime scene, and took him into custody, Ibarra said.
Both victims were taken to a hospital, where the woman died shortly after arriving and the man died while in surgery, police said. Bersson was taken to a hospital for treatment of a cut on his left arm, 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 on Monday. “He will be greatly missed.”
