Tang’s Alleged Killer Gets Preliminary Hearing Date

PASADENA, Calif. — The attorney defending the man accused of torturing and murdering adult star Felicia Tang has suggested in court records that Tang overdosed on drugs and that Brian Randone was attempting to restrain her “out-of-control” behavior when she died.

Randone, who faced Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Dorothy Shubin on Friday, is accused of beating and suffocated Tang inside a Monrovia, Calif., apartment they shared.

Shubin ordered Randone back in court for an Oct. 22 preliminary hearing date.

Randone, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges, faces life in prison if convicted. He is being held in lieu of $2 million bail at the Twin Towers jail in downtown Los Angeles.

Randone's defense attorney, Mark Overland, asked Shubin for more time on Friday.

Overland wanted to schedule a preliminary hearing for Oct. 26 to give him time to obtain Lee's toxicology reports from the Los Angeles County Coroner over the possibility that Tang overdosed on drugs.

After the hearing, Los Angeles attorney Gloria Allred issued a statement on behalf of Tang's mother.

Allred said Tang's family "cannot understand how anyone could commit such horrible crimes on such a sweet and beautiful young woman."

"Are some supporters of Brian Randone trying to suggest that because Brian has a bachelor's degree from a bible institute and a masters degree in divinity that he is a good guy who should never have been arrested?" Allred asked.

At his arraignment last month, prosecutors described to Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Terry Smerling that Tang had been beaten with a "coat hanger-like object," then suffocated by having her head held into a pillow or ground into the floor.

Phillip Wojdak, a Los Angeles County deputy district attorney, said that there were "innumerable injuries to Ms. Tang's body" caused by an unknown weapon. Bruising on Tang's body led investigators to believe she was suffocated against a hard surface, without a weapon.

Smerling sealed the photos of Tang's injuries at the arraignment, remarking that "the photos, needless to say, are gruesome."

Randone, an Omaha, Neb., native, is a former minister and mime who was featured on a 2000 Fox reality show "The Sexiest Bachelor in America." He has lived in the Los Angeles area for most of the decade in Sherman Oaks, Calif., and Burbank, Calif., as well as Monrovia. Randone ministered at Moody Bible Institute, Dallas Theological Seminary and Taylor University Chapel. He reportedly is part owner of an assisted care facility.

Tang, whose birth name was Felicia Lee, was born in Singapore, raised in Australia, and became an online-adult top draw for seven years, from 2001 to 2008.

She starred in several Playboy TV shows, “Naked Sports,” “7 Lives Exposed” and “Buckwild,” among others. She also appeared in several Peach DVD movies, including “Asian Fever” and “Hotel Decadence,” and she starred in the pay-per-view series “Strip Poker Tournament.”

Tang, who was featured as cover girl for numerous calendars, also had leading parts in several mainstream movies, including “Rush Hour 2,” “Cradle 2 the Grave” and “The Fast and the Furious” and modeled for Sketcher Shoes.

She also owned FeliciaTang.com, which offered photo galleries and videos, as well as her online diary and custom shoots. But that site has been defunct for about a year.

Tang met Randone at a pool at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas in April. Friends said they had been living together for about four months.

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