VISTA - A Vista man with a troubled past pleaded not guilty to murder charges during his arraignment Friday afternoon. It comes after an hours-long standoff earlier this week, where a woman was found dead inside the home.
Malcolm Pope, through his defense attorney, made his plea at the Vista Superior Court.
The judge ordered us not to show his face.
Pope stood motionless behind a protective wall out of sight from most of the courtroom.
His appearance in front of a judge comes just days after this scene played out at his home in Vista off North Citrus Avenue.
Pope barricaded himself inside the home for hours, refusing to come out.
According to deputies, they were called out to the house to check on the welfare of one of the residents.
When they got there, they found a woman inside dead with obvious signs of trauma.
A neighbor told us they had heard screaming from the house earlier that morning.
"My son and my sister heard screams asking for help," said Maria Figueroa, a next-door neighbor.
While Pope may have been silent inside the courtroom, records uncovered by ABC 10News give some insight into his past.
An emergency protective order filed by his mother back in 2022 documents an alleged violent encounter.
According to the order, Pope pulled his mother from her vehicle upon her arrival home.
The documents said Pope dragged his mom onto the street and then tried to search her for keys to the vehicle.
He also pleaded guilty and went to jail for threatening a law enforcement officer in an attempt to resist arrest.
While the identity of the woman who died has not been confirmed, outside the house are flowers. Some sign of beauty in a situation that's far from it.
Pope is scheduled to return to court in May.
