Father pleads not guilty to killing son, 5, who vanished in April
ALHAMBRA, Calif. -- The father of a 5-year-old boy whose body was found near a Southern California lake Friday after months of searching pleaded not guilty to a murder charge Monday.
Aramazd Andressian Sr., hands shackled at his waist, appeared before Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Cathryn Brougham, who set bail at $10 million and scheduled a preliminary hearing for Aug. 16.
The boy was found on the same day that his father, of South Pasadena, was returned to Southern California from Las Vegas, where he was arrested last week.
His new attorney, Ambrosio Rodriguez, met with Andressian for the first time during the weekend in jail. "My client is heartbroken, like anybody else," he said.
Andressian, 35, has adamantly denied harming the boy.
Based on additional leads, detectives returned Friday to an area near Lake Cachuma in Santa Barbara County and found the remains of Aramazd Andressian Jr., according to a statement from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. The boy had been missing for more than two months.
The boy was last seen at 1 a.m. April 21 leaving Disneyland with his father. Investigators have been searching for the boy since his father was found passed out in a large park in South Pasadena the next day. Andressian had taken prescription pills and was found in a car doused in gasoline in an apparent suicide attempt, sheriff's officials said.
Andressian told authorities that he drove that day about 145 miles to Lake Cachuma. Authorities had twice searched the lake unsuccessfully in the past few months, using dogs and a dive team. Andressian has been uncooperative and gave false information to investigators since he fell under suspicion, reports CBS Los Angeles.
Although initially arrested, Andressian was released but later charged with murder. Prosecutors contend that Andressian killed the boy to get back at his estranged wife. He and the boy's mother, Ana Estevez, were sharing custody as they went through a divorce.
He was arrested in Las Vegas on June 23 because authorities believed he was at risk of fleeing the country.
Andressian had shaved his beard, lightened his hair and had been socializing while living out of a Las Vegas hotel for 47 days - conduct characterized as inconsistent with that of a grieving parent, sheriff's officials said.
Ed Winter, assistant chief of the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office, told CBS Los Angeles an autopsy would be conducted on the boy's remains early this week. Winter also said tests would have to be conducted before his office officially identifies the body, but sheriff's detectives believe it is Aramazd.
