Man Pleads Guilty in Fatal Beating, Will Testify on Alleged Death Plot

A Sylmar man pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the beating death of a man who prosecutors allege was hired to arrange the killing of a Sepulveda woman’s husband.

Paul Edwin Gaul pleaded guilty to the lesser charge in exchange for his testimony against Mary Ellen Samuels, 41, who is charged with two counts of murder with the special circumstance of soliciting a killing for financial gain. Gaul will also testify against Darrell Ray Edwards, 38, of Arleta, who faces one charge of murder for financial gain.

Gaul, who had been charged with first-degree murder and could have faced the death penalty if convicted, admitted during a preliminary hearing in San Fernando Municipal Court on Tuesday that he helped kill James Bernstein, 26, of Reseda.

Police said Samuels paid Bernstein to arrange to have her husband killed so she could acquire his business and property and receive insurance payoffs.

Robert Samuels, 40, was shot to death Dec. 9, 1988, in the couple’s home in the 15800 block of Bahama Street.

Prosecutors said that after the killing Bernstein began to press Samuels for money and threatened to go to the police. Samuels then enlisted the help of Gaul and Edwards to kill Bernstein, prosecutors said.

Bernstein’s body was found July 23, 1989, in a remote area of Lockwood Canyon in northeast Ventura County.

As part of the plea agreement, Gaul will be sentenced to 15 years to life in prison.