Richard Forsberg's booking photo (Orange County Sheriff's Department / August 31, 2010) |
RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA -- An Orange County man pleaded not guilty Tuesday to bludgeoning his wife of 39 years to death and then burning her dismembered body in a Ventura County campground.
Richard Gustav Forsberg, is accused of killing his wife Marcia, on Feb. 9, 2010, after an argument in their home.
Sheriff's homicide investigator Mike Thompson testified that Forsberg described how he killed his wife and disposed of her body.
According to prosecutors, Forsberg repeatedly bludgeoned his wife in the head with a small statue.
Forsberg told investigators he dismembered her body using a hacksaw, then bagged the body parts in trash bags and stored them in freezers.
Forsberg kept his wife's body at their home for several days before renting an RV and taking it to Lake Piru in Ventura County, according to Thompson.
Over the next two weeks, Foresberg burned all of his wife's remains in campground fire pits, Thompson testified.
Friends eventually reported Marcia missing after not hearing from her for several weeks.
When detectives went to talk to Forsberg about Marcia's disappearance, he too had vanished.
He turned up weeks later at a hospital in Palm Springs after an apparent suicide attempt, according to Orange County Sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino.
If convicted, he could face a sentence of life in state prison without the possibility of parole.
Richard Gustav Forsberg, is accused of killing his wife Marcia, on Feb. 9, 2010, after an argument in their home.
Sheriff's homicide investigator Mike Thompson testified that Forsberg described how he killed his wife and disposed of her body.
According to prosecutors, Forsberg repeatedly bludgeoned his wife in the head with a small statue.
Forsberg told investigators he dismembered her body using a hacksaw, then bagged the body parts in trash bags and stored them in freezers.
Forsberg kept his wife's body at their home for several days before renting an RV and taking it to Lake Piru in Ventura County, according to Thompson.
Over the next two weeks, Foresberg burned all of his wife's remains in campground fire pits, Thompson testified.
Friends eventually reported Marcia missing after not hearing from her for several weeks.
When detectives went to talk to Forsberg about Marcia's disappearance, he too had vanished.
He turned up weeks later at a hospital in Palm Springs after an apparent suicide attempt, according to Orange County Sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino.
If convicted, he could face a sentence of life in state prison without the possibility of parole.
