STOCKTON, Apr. 4 — Two men and two women, implicated in the murder by shooting and basement burial of a young mother here last November, pleaded guilty to lesser charges in superior court Monday; then heard the judge refuse to play Cupid to their bid for a double wedding.

Michael Lee Monfort, 24, pleaded guilty to murder in the second degree to the Nov. to shooting of Mrs. Lauren Willett, 19. Police found her body in a shallow grave under a house at Stockton.

James Terrill Craig, 33, pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact as well as to possession of an illegal firearm — a sawed off shotgun.

Priscilla Kay Cooper, 22, and Nancy Laura Pitman, 23, both also pleaded guilty to being accessories after the fact — aiding and abetting Monfort to attempt to escape from arrest, trial and conviction.

Judge James P. Darrah then ordered the four cases referred to the probation department for a report and set April 23 for pronouncing judgment.

The proceedings climaxed some four months of almost weekly court appearances, but they were almost anti-climatic when Monfort’s attorney, James Van Dyke, informed the court his client desired “to enter into a marriage contract with Miss Cooper.”

This brought an outburst of laughter from Miss Pitman, puzzling everyone in the half-filled courtroom. Van Dyke quickly realized his own case of mistaken identity and pointed out that it was Miss Pitman who was Monfort’s actual intended.

Defense counsel noted Monfort is faced with another judgment on an armed robbery charge on April 9 and pleaded that he would not have another chance to marry Miss Pitman.

Miss Pitman’s attorney Andre Le Borde had hardly acknowledged the pair’s desire to wed when Jerry Whitney, attorney for Craig, announced his client wanted to marry Miss Cooper.

“What we have here, your honor, is a request for a double wedding,” Whitney told the court. “I’m going to deny the request at this time,” Judge Darrah said.

Monfort’s plea to murder in the second degree carries a term in state prison of from five years to life. The pleas of Craig and the two women carry sentences up to five years. All four withdrew previous pleas of not guilty.

Early in the case, police contended Monfort and Craig were members of the “Aryan Brotherhood” a white racist cult which has its roots inside state prison walls.

Police noted the cult has a branch inside Deuel Vocational Institute at Tracy where Monfort and Craig have been held.

The sheriff’s office transferred them there for security reasons and the pair often sought court orders for their return to the county jail, but several judges hearing the motions denied the requests.

Miss Cooper and Miss Pitman were linked by police to the “Charles Manson family” but virtue of that cult’s symbol reportedly being etched on their foreheads.