The State - News from May 5, 1988

Secret tape recordings--made by an ailing man and taken to police less than 36 hours before his 1986 beating death--led to murder convictions against the victim’s new bride and her lover. Brenda Otto, 40, had her husband of five weeks killed because he was about to find out she had given $10,000 from a prenuptial agreement to her lover, Marvin Mark, 53, the Santa Clara County Superior Court jury concluded in voting first-degree murder convictions against Otto and Mark for the Oct. 14, 1986, beating death of Joseph Otto, 61. Brenda Otto had told police that burglars attacked her and her husband. “It was so obvious she only married him for his money,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Joyce Dougherty said. Key to the state’s case were tape recordings Joseph Otto secretly made of phone conversations at his house. He played one, which the prosecution contended revealed the murder plot, to police less than 36 hours before his slaying. Brenda Otto and Mark face 25 years to life in prison when sentenced June 17.