TV beauty pageant contestant pleads not guilty in Calif. to killing ex-adult film actress

Calif. pageant contestant denies murder

PASADENA, Calif. — A self-proclaimed preacher who was a contestant in the TV beauty pageant “The Sexiest Bachelor in America” pleaded not guilty Tuesday to murdering his girlfriend, a former adult-movie actress.

Brian Randone, 45, was arraigned in Superior Court and remained in custody on $2 million bail. He could face 25 years to life in prison if convicted of beating and choking Felicia Lee on Sept. 11 in their suburban Monrovia apartment.

Detectives allege Randone tortured the 31-year-old Lee, noting they found dozens of recent injuries on her body after Randone called 911 to report she was unconscious.

Deputy District Attorney Philip Wojdak said investigators believe Lee was suffocated against a hard surface without a weapon being used. Judge Terry Smerling called the injuries gruesome and sealed photos of Lee’s body.

Randone’s lawyer, Mark Overland, said he had no comment because he had just taken the case and had not reviewed the police reports.

A preliminary hearing was scheduled for Oct. 9.

Lee appeared in several adult movies under the name Felicia Tang. The Singapore-born woman also had bit parts in the movies “Rush Hour 2″ and “The Fast and the Furious” and had modeled for the Playboy television channel. She had moved in with Randone a few months before her death.

Randone, a Nebraska native, appeared on the Fox special “The Sexiest Bachelor in America” in 2000 but did not win.

Randone has a bachelor’s degree from Moody Bible Institute in Chicago and a master’s of divinity degree from Southwestern Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.

He was involved in ministry as a mime and had once worked as a mime on the campus of Baylor University. Baylor spokeswoman Jill Scoggins said he was not hired by the school and only performed on campus once in 1996.