California Man Chokes Grandmother To Death After Blacking Out, Doesn’t Remember How


On February 23, 2015, a California man testified in court that he killed his grandmother after blacking out.

The man’s name is Kyle McLean of Murrieta, California. Although the murder of Catherine Sutton (McLean’s grandmother) took place in July of 2013, in the latest news, Kyle says that he remembers her scratching him. The next thing he knew, she was dead. McLean doesn’t remember the rest.

“[Once she scratched him] That’s when I snapped…. She died… It’s hard to explain… I choked her. That’s when I blacked out. Like me watching me over there … Like an out-of-body experience.”

Afterwards, McLean had a cigarette. And just before he left, he came to a realization, according to Press Enterprise.

“It dawned on me that you can’t, you can’t just leave her there. I put her in the trunk of the car. I was gonna put her in the front seat at first, but that didn’t make sense … She’s dead.”

Possibly still not exactly in his right frame of mind, Kyle got the idea to drive to one of the nearby mountain ranges to dump her body over one of the cliffs.

He stated during the testimony, “I wrapped her up. Put her in the tub. Locked it. I said good-bye, in a way. I can’t tell you what specific mountain range. It was one I thought would be nice.”

However, the mountain range is said to be near the Yucaipa area.

Latest News - Kyle McLean On Trial For The Murder Of His Grandmother Sits In Court
Credits: The Press Enterprise | Frank Bellino
Latest News – Kyle McLean pleads “not guilty” and is set on $1 million bail.

McLean’s testimony took place at the Southwest Justice Center in French Valley, California — near Murrieta, Temecula, and Winchester. Kyle’s grandmother, 71, was reported missing on July 14, 2013.

A few days prior to the latest testimony, on February 19, Kyle’s aunt — Andreana Arriaga — stated that when she went to check on her mother during that time, she came to the house, only to find McLean there. And he told her that he didn’t know anything about the grandmother’s location. However, she said that she noticed a strong bleach odor throughout the house and a fan was blowing in the garage.

Kyle’s would-be friend, Michael Erikson, testified as well. Days before the event happened, both he and McLean were charged with suspicion of vandalism after graffitiing the house next door to the grandmother’s. After only serving a short sentence, they were both released. According to Press Enterprise, more happened than Kyle had mentioned.

“On the witness stand Wednesday, Erickson said he didn’??t see the face of the dead woman in the trunk but she was wearing jeans and a T-shirt and there was a belt around her neck.

‘??I was just in shock. I just poked her because I didn’??t know what else to do,’? Erickson said. ‘I’ve never seen something like that before.’?

McLean and Erickson had met only a few hours earlier through their girlfriends. Erickson had given McLean a ride home. While Erickson was there, he tagged a block wall next to her house with graffiti. He and McLean were arrested a short time later on suspicion of vandalism.

That same day, after they were cited and released, Erickson said he got a call from McLean wanting to meet up. That’??s when McLean showed him the body, Erickson said.

According to Erickson, McLean told him he had killed his grandmother because she had ‘??snitched’? about the vandalism.”

However, Kyle also mentioned that once they were back at the house, his grandmother followed him around while arguing. And during this time, the supposed snap-inducing scratch happened. In the current news though, McLean denied the events and allegations in Michael’s testimony.

He’s being held on a $1 million bail and has pleaded “not guilty.”

What do you think of this news story? Did McLean just “snap” or was there actual motive behind his actions? Is he trying to get an “insanity” plea?

[Feature Image via Press Enterprise]

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