Exclusive | Ritzy California beach enclave man found dead IDd as father of four as details about suspects emerge
A dead man found bizarrely wrapped in Saran wrap has been identified as father of four Lawrence Matthew Brennen Jr., as new details emerge about the suspects accused of concealing his body.Santa Barbara cops made the grisly discovery Oct.27 while executing a search warrant following a welfare check request, finding Brennen’s body bundled in a bedroll and stuffed inside a metal container covered in plastic wrap.Cops then arrested and charged two suspects, 45-year-old Jenica Monique Ochoa and 43-year-old Kenneth Eugene Tompkins, with felony conspiracy and misdemeanor concealment of a death.The suspects have not been charged with Brennen’s death, and both have pleaded not guilty to the alleged crimes.
They have also denied a second strike enhancement involving earlier first-degree burglary convictions.Prosecutors alleged the pair conspired to conceal Brennen’s death between Oct.23 and Oct.
27, according to SFGATE.Both suspects are out on bail with ankle monitors, according to the victim’s sister, Justine Castillo.Castillo, 28, painted her brother as a hard-working father who was always willing to help others.“He had a hard life, but he was a survivor,” she told the California Post.Castillo said Brennen, nicknamed “Shorty,” had four children, including eldest, 21-year-old Jacob.“Everyone loved him and welcomed him.
He was so helpful … he was still grieving my dad and grandma’s death.He was just so happy,” she added.Brian Giles, who said he was a friend of Brennen’s and had plans scheduled with him, also mourned his death to The Post.
He believed his friend was murdered.“He always had my back, even more than my own brothers.One of my best friends….
I’m in shock,” he wrote on Facebook.Castillo also believes Brennen was murdered before the alleged perpetrators hid his body.Brennen had a relationship with Ochoa, she said, and the pair allegedly had a falling out.Castillo and Brennen’s mother, Valerie De La Cruz, who Castillo claims ...