A 27-year-old man was charged Friday in the killings of his parents and their housekeeper in a Newport Beach home. Richard Nicholson, 64, and Kim Nicholson, 61, both of Newport Beach, and Maria Morse, 57, of Anaheim were found dead Wednesday night in a home at 36 Palazzo, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. The suspect, Camden Burton Nicholson, is charged with three counts of murder with a sentencing enhancement allegation of multiple slayings. During a court appearance Friday, he delayed entering a plea until March 8 and is being held without bail. Newport Beach police said Friday that he is the son of Richard and Kim Nicholson and that Morse was the couple’s housekeeper. Advertisement Newport police received a call from Irvine police shortly before 9 p.m. Wednesday requesting a welfare check at the couple’s home on Palazzo. The call came after Irvine police spoke with a man, later identified as Camden Nicholson, in the emergency room of a medical facility. When Newport officers arrived at the house, they found the bodies of two women and a man. Authorities did not release details about the circumstances or manner of the deaths. Richard Nicholson was chief executive of West Pacific Medical Laboratory until it was purchased two years ago by Sonic Healthcare USA. He stayed on as a consultant through its rebranding as WestPac Labs last month, according to Staton Shed, interim president of WestPac Labs. “He was a really good man who was looking to help people. It’s truly a loss,” Shed said. “I was just amazed someone at his level looked out for everyone he worked with, including staff and clients.” The Orange County Business Journal honored Richard Nicholson in 2001 as one of eight Ernst & Young Entrepreneurs of the Year. Richard and Kim Nicholson were longtime supporters of Orange County Coastkeeper, a Costa Mesa-based environmental group for which Richard was a board member for 15 years. The nonprofit was shocked by their deaths, said Executive Director Garry Brown. Richard had planned to attend a strategic planning meeting for the board the night his body was found, Brown said. “He’s been an integral part of our board,” Brown said. “Very supportive and very giving of himself and his time. It’s just such a tragic loss.” Outside of his business and philanthropic work, Richard Nicholson enjoyed backcountry skiing and chartered helicopters to drop him off at remote peaks that he would ski down. Advertisement Camden Nicholson’s online profile identifies him as a devout Mormon missionary who attended the University of Utah. He graduated from Corona del Mar High School and lives in Costa Mesa, according to his Facebook profile. Morse’s family could not be reached for comment Friday.<doc-sep>The Latest on a man charged with killing his parents and their housekeeper in California (all times local): 2:20 p.m. Prosecutors have charged a California man with killing his parents and their housekeeper in an upscale community. The Orange County district attorney's office charged 27-year-old Camden Nicholson on Friday with three counts of murder and an enhancement alleging multiple murders. Nicholson's arraignment was delayed to March 8. His lawyer Jessica Ann Watts didn't immediately respond to a message seeking comment. Nicholson was arrested Wednesday after authorities found his parents, Richard and Kim Nicholson, and their housekeeper Maria Morse dead in a home in Newport Beach. ___ 11:30 a.m. Authorities say a man has been arrested on suspicion of killing his parents and their housekeeper in an upscale Southern California community. Orange County sheriff's spokeswoman Carrie Braun said Friday that 64-year-old Richard Nicholson, 61-year-old Kim Nicholson and 57-year-old Maria Morse were found dead in a Newport Beach home Wednesday. Newport Beach police spokeswoman Heather Rangel says the Nicholsons are parents of 27-year-old suspect Camden Nicholson and Morse was their housekeeper. Authorities say they were found dead when police made a welfare check at the home in response to a request by officers who had contact with Camden Nicholson at a hospital. No charges had been filed against him early Friday. It wasn't immediately clear if he had an attorney.<doc-sep>A Southern California man in an upscale neighborhood allegedly killed his parents and their housekeeper, police say. Camden Burton Nicholson, a 27-year-old from Newport Beach, California, was arrested Wednesday for the killings of his mother Kim Nicholson, 61, father Richard Nicolson, 64, and their housekeeper Maria Morse, 57, the city's police department said. Police in Irvine, California, first came in contact with Nicholson the night before at a local hospital's emergency room and requested that Newport Beach police do a wellness check at the home. When police investigated and found the three bodies at the house, Nicholson was detained at Irvine Medical Center, Newport Beach police said. Police have not indicated an alleged motive. Nicholson was charged with three counts of murder and delayed entering into a plea at a court appearance Friday, the Los Angeles Times reported. Online records indicate Nicholson is being held without bail and is scheduled to appear again in court on March 8. According to KTLA-TV, the killings took place in the "upscale gated community of Bonita Canyon." Neighbor Leslie Seigel told the TV station the family were "just wonderful people." "I can't imagine taking my walks and, you know, not stopping and talking to them," she said. "It's too surreal right now." Richard Nicholson worked in the clinical laboratory industry and was a previous president of the California Clinical Laboratory Association, according to the Associated Press. Morse's daughter Miriam Trujillo told the Orange County Register that her mother worked for the family for over 10 years and became close with them. "I got a feeling something bad happened," husband Wayne Morse told the newspaper he felt when his wife didn't come home from work.<doc-sep>
A man was charged Friday with killing his parents and their housekeeper in an upscale Southern California community. Camden Nicholson, 27, of Newport Beach, was charged with three counts of murder and an enhancement alleging multiple murders. Nicholson was arrested Wednesday night after police found his parents, Richard and Kim Nicholson, and their housekeeper Maria Morse in the couple's home in a gated community in Newport Beach, authorities said. Police had gone to check on them after officers in the nearby city of Irvine talked to Camden Nicholson at a hospital emergency room. Court filings say authorities suspect Nicholson may have killed his parents Monday and Morse a day later. Heather Rangel, a spokeswoman for the Newport Beach Police Department, declined to provide further details about the killings. Nicholson's arraignment was delayed on Friday until March 8. His lawyer, Jessica Ann Watts, didn't immediately respond to a message seeking comment. Nicholson attended the University of Utah in fall 2009, spring 2010 and fall 2013, said Chris Nelson, communications director for the school. He did not receive a degree, Nelson said. He also played on the university golf team in fall 2009, Nelson said. Richard Nicholson had a long history in the clinical laboratory industry and previously served as president of the California Clinical Laboratory Association, said Michael Arnold, the group's executive director. In recent years, he worked as a consultant to what is now known as WestPac Labs, said Staton Shed, the company's interim president. "He was just a really good man, and he cared deeply for the patients," Shed said. "We're all just still trying to understand what happened, and you can't make sense of it."