An Alameda County Superior Court judge has ordered a man accused of the fatal September 2014 knife attack on a 72-year-old woman near the Berkeley Zen Center to stand trial for murder.
Judge Rhonda Burgess on Wednesday ordered Kamau Berlin, who was 18 and a student at Berkeley Technology Academy at the time of his arrest, to return to court later this month for arraignment in the death of Nancy McClellan, 72. He will continue to be held without bail, Burgess said.
Berlin told his mother he had needed a ride home the day he was arrested near the car where Nancy McClellan, 72, was found bleeding from the neck due to a stab wound. Police testified that, when his mother insisted during a jailhouse interview that he tell her the truth of what had happened, he said he had seen a woman in a car, started hitting her to get her out of the car, and then threw her into the backseat.
He also mentioned to his mother having used brass knuckles during the attack, which ultimately helped police track down the murder weapon in the days after Berlin’s arrest.
At the time of his arrest, he told police a red substance on him that looked like blood was actually “fake blood for Halloween.”