A Vista man pleaded not guilty to murder Friday, two days after he barricaded himself in his home with the victim’s dead body, prompting an hours-long SWAT standoff.
Malcolm Pope, 26, is also accused of using a knife in the attack, according to the complaint filed in Vista Superior Court.
Court documents list the victim’s name as Mireya Pope, his 60-year-old mother. She was also a resident of the home, according to court filings in a 2022 protective order that sought to keep her son away from her.
The complaint indicates the killing happened either Tuesday or Wednesday.
Just after 10 a.m. Wednesday, deputies responded to the Pope home to check the welfare of a person, sheriff’s homicide Lt. Juan Marquez said. Inside, they found the body of a woman, and a man was barricaded in a bedroom.
The SWAT team and crisis negotiators were called to the scene, and a more than six-hour standoff ensued. It ended with Pope — dressed in a vintage-style soldier’s helmet and a flag bearing what looks like an Iron Cross tied around his neck like a cape — walking outside and surrendering.
Pope faces 26 years to life in prison if convicted of murder and an allegation that he used a knife. He is jailed without bail.
