Man Who Bludgeoned Parents To Death In OC Triple Homicide Sentenced

NEWPORT BEACH, CA — A 35-year-old man was sentenced Friday to three consecutive life terms in prison without the possibility of parole for bludgeoning and repeatedly stabbing his parents and a longtime housekeeper in their Newport Beach home.

Camden Burton Nicholson was convicted Oct. 22, 2025 of three counts of special-circumstances murder with a sentencing enhancement of multiple murders.

Since Nicholson pleaded guilty by reason of insanity, the trial passed into a second phase, with jurors saying on Oct. 30 that he was legally sane at the time of the murders.

Nicholson stabbed 64-year-old Richard Nicholson and 61-year-old Kim Nicholson to death after receiving an ultimatum by his parents to check into a mental health and addiction treatment facility.

He then slit the throat of their housekeeper, 57-year-old Maria Morse, when she showed up at the home for her shift.

According to Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer, Nicholson stuffed Morse's body into a large plastic bin in the kitchen pantry.

After the deaths, he was accused of using his parents' car to go on shopping sprees, including spending hundreds of dollars at a Santa Ana marijuana dispensary and buying sex toys, according to Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer.

Lawyers for the 34-year-old argued that he had been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder and should not be found guilty by reason of insanity.