San Diego

One of the two men charged in the execution-style slaying of a Vista man pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to murder during the course of kidnaping and robbery.

Nick Michael Holm, 20, of Fallbrook changed his plea to guilty just hours before the start of the trial of his co-defendant, Larry Wayne LaFleur, 22, of Oceanside.

Holm admitted killing Otto Swan Bloomquist, 82, who was shot numerous times Jan. 10, apparently after he was kidnaped while waiting for his wife in the parking lot of a Carlsbad shopping mall.

Holm will be sentenced Aug. 21, but sentencing rules governing murder committed during the commission of another felony almost ensure that he will be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

While being questioned by U. S. District Judge William B. Enright, Holm said: “I pulled the trigger, sir.” Holm also said he shot Bloomquist in the back of the head.

Meanwhile, the victim’s widow, Nora Bloomquist, 84, gave the first testimony in LaFleur’s trial.

She identified the couple’s car from an enlarged photo as the one where she left her husband.

“That is our car, only it’s dirty. We never had a dirty car,” she said.

She said she told her husband she would be gone shopping only for an hour, and that Bloomquist said: “I’ll be right here.”

When she returned, she said she found “no car, no Otto.”

The widow held up without crying until shown her husband’s wallet and pocketknife, when she paused and bent forward in her chair.

Defense attorneys asked her no questions.

The trial is being held in federal court because the victim’s body was found on Camp Pendleton.