November 20, 2008
"Metrolink Murderer" Will Spend Life in Prison
LOS ANGELES -- The man known as the "metrolink murderer" will spend the rest of his life in prison. A judge sentenced 29 year old Juan Manuel Alvarez to 11 consecutive life sentences, calling him a "remorseless killer."
Superior Court Judge William Pounders said Wednesday he would impose a sentence of "forever" on Juan Alvarez, if it was possible. Alvarez will not be eligible for parole.
Alvarez parked his SUV on railroad tracks at the Glendale-Los Angeles border on January 26, 2005, causing a Metrolink derailment that killed 11 people and injured more than 180 others.
Alvarez was convicted June 26 of 11 counts of first-degree murder, along
with one count of arson in connection with the deadliest U.S. train crash since 1999.
Alvarez, who spent more than four days on the stand during his trial,
testified that he meant to commit suicide by parking his green Jeep Cherokee on
the tracks south of Chevy Chase Drive in Glendale about 6 a.m., but changed his
mind and couldn't get the SUV off the tracks.
"I was going to kill myself," Alvarez testified. "I feel terrible and
I ask for forgiveness."
He told jurors that it never crossed his mind that anyone aboard the
train would be hurt.
Prosecutors countered that the then-26-year-old former construction
worker and father of two intended to cause a catastrophe to get his estranged
wife's attention.
Metrolink train No. 100, which was heading south to Union Station,
derailed after plowing into the vehicle, then crashed into northbound Metrolink
train No. 901 at the Glendale-Los Angeles city line. The train also struck a
Union Pacific freight train locomotive, which wound up on its side.
Glendale Fire Department arson investigators said gasoline had been
poured on both the inside and outside of the Jeep. That caused a fire after
train No. 100 smashed into the vehicle on the tracks.
Killed in the crash were train conductor Tom Ormiston, a 58-year-old
Vietnam veteran who was nearing retirement at the end of a railroad career that
began in 1970, and sheriff's Deputy James Tutino, 47, who took the commuter
train occasionally to get to work at the Men's Central Jail in downtown Los
Angeles.
Also killed were Manuel Alcala, 51; Julie Bennett, 44; Alfonso
Caballero, 62; Elizabeth Hill, 65; Henry Kilinski, 39; Todd McKeown, 42;
William Parent, 53; Leonard Romero, 53; and Don Wiley, 58.
It was the deadliest train crash in the history of Metrolink, which
began service in 1992.
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