Former NFL player pleads not guilty

Former NFL linebacker Eric Naposki pleaded not guilty at a short hearing Thursday to charges that he killed Newport Beach millionaire William Francis McLaughlin 15 years ago.

Naposki, who played for the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts in the late 1980s, has been accused of shooting McLaughlin at his Balboa Coves home so then-love interest Nanette Ann Packard McNeal could collect on a $1-million life insurance policy of which she was the beneficiary.

Newport Beach police said that McNeal gave Naposki the key to McLaughlin’s house the ex-athlete used to enter and shoot the victim six times.

At the time, authorities say, McLaughlin was supporting McNeal, who was his girlfriend, but McNeal was dating Naposki on the side.

A year after the slaying, McNeal pleaded guilty to grand theft for allegedly stealing $500,000 from McLaughlin.

McNeal was in court Thursday, but her arraignment was postponed until June 23.

— Alan Blank