Parolee Pleads Not Guilty in Burk Case

Los Angeles (myFOXla.com) - A parolee charged with abducting and killing a 17- year-old Los Feliz girl pleaded not guilty today to murder and other charges in the July 24th crime.

Lily Burk was found beaten with her neck slashed in her Volvo near Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles the day after she was abducted. She had gone to pick up some papers for her mother at the Southwestern University School of Law and, once abducted, made calls to each of her parents, asking how to get cash from an ATM via her credit card, but apparently her parents detected no duress, police said.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Henry J. Hall accepted the not guilty plea from Charlie Samuel, an alleged drug addict, and denied him bail.

Samuel, 50, is due back in court in downtown Los Angeles Sept. 9, when a date is expected to be set for a preliminary hearing, which will determine if authorities have enough evidence to try him on the charges.

Samuel, represented by Deputy Public Defenders Lisa Roth and Steve Giedzinski, -- is charged with one count each of murder, kidnapping to commit robbery, second-degree robbery and attempted first-degree automated teller machine robbery.

The murder charge includes the special circumstance allegations that Samuel murdered the teenager during the commission of a kidnapping and robbery, which could make him eligible for the death penalty if convicted.

Burk, a student at North Hollywood's Oakwood School, left her home about 2 p.m. July 24 to pick up some papers for her mother, a law professor at Southwestern University School of Law in the Westlake area.

Samuel is accused of abducting Burk about 3 p.m. that day as she was about to get into her parked car near Wilshire Boulevard and Wilshire Place, police said.

Samuel used Burk in an several unsuccessful attempts to get money from a downtown ATM, according to LAPD Deputy Chief Sergio Diaz, who said there was no indication that the suspect was armed with a gun or a knife.

Between 3:35 and 4 p.m., the teenager called each of her parents, asking how to get cash using her credit card at an ATM. Her father told her that the credit card could not be used at an ATM, police said.

"She didn't tell them that she was in distress," Diaz said.

According to police, Burk made arrangements with her father to go their home to pick up an unspecified amount of money, but she never made it there.

Shortly before 5 p.m., Samuel left the black Volvo in a parking lot at 458 S. Alameda St., with Lily's body in the passenger seat, Diaz said.

Signs of a struggle were found in the Volvo, police said.

The girl's body was found in her car, which was still in the downtown parking lot, around 6:30 a.m. the next day.

Samuel was arrested at 5:25 p.m. July 24 on suspicion of drinking in public and carrying a cocaine pipe. But when fingerprints taken from Burk's car linked him to the girl's death two days later, Samuel was booked on suspicion of murder, police said.

Lily's parents reported her missing Friday night.

Prosecutors said Samuel had a 1987 robbery conviction from San Bernardino County and a 2006 conviction from Van Nuys for petty theft with a prior.

Samuel was in Los Angeles to complete a court-ordered program as a condition of his parole for the theft conviction, according to police.

At a court hearing last month, Deputy District Attorney Truc Do told the judge that the evidence against Samuel includes video surveillance, forensic evidence and statements. Police said earlier that Samuel's fingerprints were found in Burk's car.