Death sentence in 5 Calif. arson murders
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A convicted arsonist was sentenced to death Friday for setting a Southern California wildfire that claimed the lives of five federal firefighters as they struggled to defend a rural home from raging wind-driven flames.
Raymond Lee Oyler, 38, was found guilty in March of five counts of first-degree murder for setting the Oct. 26, 2006 blaze about 90 miles east of Los Angeles.
"After evaluating the same evidence that the jury had heard and going through that, I find that the aggravating circumstances do outweigh the mitigating circumstances," Riverside County Superior Court Judge W. Charles Morgan said.
"In particular, Mr. Oyler set on a mission ... to wreak havoc in this county by setting fires by his own design for his own purposes and as proven by the evidence he became more and more proficient," Morgan said. "He knew that young men and women would put their lives on the line to protect other people and property and he continued anyway."
The firefighters' deaths stunned the region and some 10,000 people attended the memorial service for Jason McKay, 27; Jess McLean, 27; Daniel Hoover-Najera, 20; Mark Loutzenhiser, 43, and Pablo Cerda, 23.
Raymond Lee Oyler, 38, was found guilty in March of five counts of first-degree murder for setting the Oct. 26, 2006 blaze about 90 miles east of Los Angeles.
"After evaluating the same evidence that the jury had heard and going through that, I find that the aggravating circumstances do outweigh the mitigating circumstances," Riverside County Superior Court Judge W. Charles Morgan said.
"In particular, Mr. Oyler set on a mission ... to wreak havoc in this county by setting fires by his own design for his own purposes and as proven by the evidence he became more and more proficient," Morgan said. "He knew that young men and women would put their lives on the line to protect other people and property and he continued anyway."
The firefighters' deaths stunned the region and some 10,000 people attended the memorial service for Jason McKay, 27; Jess McLean, 27; Daniel Hoover-Najera, 20; Mark Loutzenhiser, 43, and Pablo Cerda, 23.
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