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I'm Sidney Sumner. A California fire captain accused of killing his girlfriend and her young son

in attempting to kill another child entered not guilty pleas in court.

Darren McFarlane, 47, is on unpaid administrative leave from Cal Fire after his arrest last week

for the murders of 29-year-old

Marissa Herzog and her son Josiah, a second grader. He stands charged with two counts

of first-degree murder, one count of attempted murder, and domestic violence and child abuse

charges. Court documents say the murders took place to prevent the victim's testimony for a crime,

but they do not specifically reveal what that crime was. They do, however, detail what investigators think

happened on the evening of August 21st. Prosecutors say that McFarlane attacked Herzog inside a bedroom

before she left the room and used her cell phone. McFarlane then obtained a gun and went out to the dining room to kill her.

The arrest affidavit says that Herzog's murder was willful, deliberate, and premeditated,

and that she and her son were killed because they witnessed a crime.

McFarlane then attempted to kill a second child, identified as Herzog's daughter.

The court documents say the killer did

willfully and unlawfully inflict unjustifiable mental suffering on a child or permit a child to suffer

unjustifiable mental suffering under circumstances and conditions likely to reduce great bodily harm.

El Dorado County deputies found Herzog dead at the scene when they arrived.

Josiah was taken to a hospital where he died. McFarlane had fled the scene and was later

arrested several counties away in Mono County. The El Dorado County District Attorney's Office

added special circumstances to the murder charges, committing multiple murders, murder of a

witness to prevent testimony, an, murder of a witness to prevent

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