A Miramar-based Marine will stand trial for the choking death of his wife, a teenage stripper who was killed while she slept in the couple's Mira Mesa apartment.
San Diego police found Kalyn Denise O'Barr-Poteat, 19, in a one-bedroom, second-story apartment on Hillery Drive Jan. 5.
Her 21-year old husband, Lance Cpl. Patrick Poteat, was arrested in Yucca Valley after a friend had called 911 instructing police to check the couple's apartment.
After he was transferred into San Diego police custody, he was questioned by detectives. Poteat reportedly cried during the interrogation and admitted to killing his wife.
Poteat told detectives that he strangled his wife in bed with an electrical cord, San Diego police Detective Mike Holden testified in a preliminary hearing Wednesday.
"He said he never should have done that," Holden testified. "He didn't know why he did it. Then he said he murdered her."
oteat told the detectives that as he was strangling his wife, she woke up and said, "I can't breathe. I can't breathe," but he continued the attack, Holden testified.
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The defendant said he tried to cut his wrists and cut an extra piece of cord to kill himself, but was unsuccessful, the detective testified.
Kalyn was a dancer at Goldfingers Gentlemen's Club on Miramar Road. The couple had moved to San Diego from Georgia and had only been married for a few months.
Poteat's boss, Marine Cpl. Kody Fletcher, also testified during the preliminary hearing that Poteat told him the couple was having marital problems.
Fletcher also testified that on Jan. 4, Poteat texted him saying "I just want to give everyone one last goodbye."
Then, another text from Poteat read "Please call 911. The door is locked. They need to kick it in. She is on the bed."
Prosecutor Dan Link said police also found a signed note from the defendant on the refrigerator implicating himself in the crime.
A spokesperson from MCAS Miramar said Poteat was stationed there since July 2009 and had not been deployed and had no previous duty stations.
Judge Kenneth So ruled that enough evidence had been presented at the preliminary hearing for Poteat to stand trial on a murder charge. A Superior Court arraignment was scheduled for May 12, when a trial date could be set.
