Burton boys corroborate father's self-defense claims

RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- Michael Burton is expected to take the witness stand Thursday to dispute prosecutors' allegations that he murdered his wife three years ago at the couple's Rancho Cucamonga home.

Burton, a former Pasadena firefighter, claims he was acting in self-defense when he stabbed his wife of 13 years, Otilia Burton, 11 times with a samurai sword.

Today, two of the couple's sons were called to testify by Burton's defense attorney, potentially bolstering Burton's claim that his wife stabbed him in the chest before he retaliated with the sword.

The couple had been going through a contentious divorce prior to the incident.

The boys told jurors in West Valley Superior Court that they saw their father bleeding from a cut to his chest following the July 16, 2006 incident.

The testimony of the two boys appears to conflict with the prosecution's theory of the case -- that Burton, 48, attacked his wife, then tried to kill himself by cutting his neck, wrist, and stabbing himself in the chest.

When a SWAT team from the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department entered the Burtons' home in the 10300 block of Cartilla Court following a five-hour standoff, they said they found Burton stabbing himself in the chest.

But doctors found only a single stab wound to Burton's chest -- making the testimony from SWAT officers and the Burtons' sons seemingly inconsistent.

The boys -- now aged 15 and 12 -- testified this morning that the night prior to the incident, their mother went out, leaving the boys and Michael Burton home.

After watching a movie with their father, the boys said they went to sleep in an upstairs bedroom. They awoke to the sound of their parents screaming and arguing downstairs, the boys testified Wednesday.

The younger boy, who was 9 the morning of his mother's death, testified that during the argument between his parents, he and his brother stayed upstairs.

The boy testified that when his father came upstairs after the incident, shirtless and wearing blue shorts, he saw an open, bleeding cut on his father's chest.

"The stab was right there," the boy said. "All the blood was going down."

The 15-year-old boy's testimony was consistent with his younger brother's -- he said he saw a vertical cut on his father's chest.

The older boy also said he heard his mother tell Michael Burton she was sorry during the argument that immediately preceded Otilia Burton's death.

Today was the eighth day of testimony in Michael Burton's murder trial, and the first day that Burton's defense attorney, Winston McKesson, has called witnesses in Burton's defense.

In addition to testimony from the couple's two boys, jurors heard testimony from Michael Burton's girlfriend and the sheriff's detective who interviewed the boys the day of their mother's death.

Burton's girlfriend, Josefina Hernandez, testified that Burton never said he wanted to harm his wife prior to her death.

The prosecution rested its case Tuesday following the completion of testimony from a crime scene investigator who analyzed blood spatters in the Burtons' home.

Tomorrow, McKesson said he intends to call as witnesses two of Michael Burton's brothers, and a doctor who will testify that Burton's chest wound was not self-inflicted.

After those three witnesses have testified, Michael Burton will take the witness stand in his defense, McKesson said.