An ex-con pleaded not guilty Monday to charges that he murdered an 81-year-old woman and a 53-year-old man during burglaries at their homes in the San Fernando Valley nearly three years apart.

Erick Escamilla, 27, is charged with two counts each of murder and first-degree residential burglary stemming from the Aug. 2, 2022, killing of Ok Ja Kim at her Woodland Hills home and the slaying this April 23 of Menashe Hidra at his Valley Village home.

The murder charges include the special circumstance allegations of multiple murders and murder during the commission of a burglary, along with allegations that he used a “sharp object” in Kim’s killing and a screwdriver in Hidra’s killing and that he has a prior conviction from 2019 for burglary.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office

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