Oroville man changes plea, admits to murder in stabbing of 86-year-old woman
An Oroville homeless man arrested in the slaying of an 86-year-old woman last November has changed his plea and will be sentenced next month, according to the Butte County District Attorney’s Office.
Brian Madding changed his plea for the first-degree murder charge from not guilty to no contest Monday as a jury was being selected for his trial, the DA’s office said Tuesday in a news release. He also admitted to the murder, the DA says.
Madding, 42, was arrested in May, connected via fingerprint evidence to the Nov. 7, 2018, stabbing death of Greta Putnam inside her mobile home on Fifth Avenue in Oroville, according to the release.
Madding stabbed Putnam at least five times, including at least one stab to the neck, the news release said.
Following a warrant arrest and as he was being questioned by two Oroville police detectives, Madding reportedly admitted to killing Putnam in the course of burglarizing her home, after she stirred from bed.
The DA’s release claims Madding tried to “feign legal insanity” to retract his first admission of guilt.
Putnam’s body was found the morning of Nov. 8, 2018, hours before the devastating Camp Fire ignited in Butte County, about 15 miles away from Oroville.
“Her body was found in her bed the next morning by her caretaker who came to the home,” Tuesday’s release said.
Madding will be formally sentenced Dec. 19. With the plea, he faces a sentence of life in prison with no possibility of parole, according to District Attorney Mike Ramsey.
