Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 18, 1990 TAG: 9005180134
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Medium
Christian Brando, 32, was arrested in the actor's palatial Santa Monica Mountains estate Wednesday night and booked for investigation of murder, said Lt. Ron Hall. He was held without bail pending arraignment Friday.
"He admitted to the shooting," the lieutenant said.
Dag Drollet, 26, died instantly from a .45-caliber bullet to the head, police said. An autopsy was planned for Friday, said coroner's office spokesman Bob Dambacher.
Marlon Brando, 66, made a 911 emergency call to police at about 10:45 p.m. to report a shooting inside his estate, police said. Only one shot was fired.
"The dispute was over the victim's treatment of Cheyenne Brando, Marlon Brando's 20-year-old daughter," Hall said. "There were allegations that there was physical abuse, a beating. There was an argument and he became angry."
Tarita Cheyenne is the daughter of Brando and his current wife, Tarita Teriipia, a Tahitian actress who played his love in the 1962 remake of "Mutiny on the Bounty."
A Brando lawyer said the daughter was "pretty well along" in her pregnancy but declined to be more specific or identify the father.
After police and paramedics arrived at the gated estate overlooking Beverly Hills, Drollet's body was found in what was described as an entertainment room. Hall said Christian Brando was alone with Drollet when the shooting occurred. The investigator said the Oscar-winning actor, his wife and daughter were in another wing of the home.
Christian Brando will plead innocent, said William Kunstler, Marlon Brando's attorney and an associate of the actor in civil rights struggles over the past 30 years.
by CNB