California arsonist may face death penalty for Los Angeles widlfire, prosecutors say

Two firefighters died when their vehicle crashed off the road as they worked with a group of inmates battling the blaze during some of the most intense hours of the operation.
Sheriff Lee Baca has said police have launched a murder investigation following the deaths during the biggest fire in the history of Los Angeles County.
A law enforcement source told The Los Angeles Times on Saturday that "material that didn't belong there" has been found at the site suspected to be where the fire started, a twice-scorched slope near Mile Marker 29 along Angeles Crest Highway.
The suspicious substance was reportedly found in the brush off the highway and has been sent for laboratory testing.
The fire, which was 42 per cent contained by Saturday morning, has destroyed more than 154,000 acres and 76 homes. It has cost more than $37 million to fight but the much greater damage to property, wildlife is still being assessed.
There is a recent precedent for an arsonist receiving the death penalty.
In June, Raymond Lee Oyler, a mechanic, was sentenced to die for setting the 2006 Esperanza blaze that claimed the lives of five firefighters.
Even if the fire was accidental, the newspaper reported that the starter could face jail time if charged and convicted of involuntary manslaughter or negligent homicide resulting from a tossed cigarette, fuel spill or other careless act that caused the fire.
"For first-degree murder, the key for the state would be to prove intent to take the lives of the victims," Stanford law professor Kara Dansky, executive director of the school's Criminal Justice Center, said.Under the state's felony murder rule, a defendant who intentionally and premeditatively sets a fire can be found guilty of first-degree murder if someone dies as a result, she said.
"This is a homicide investigation and could result in murder charges depending on what the district attorney decides to file," said Sheriff's Department spokesman Steve Whitmore.
Gov Arnold Schwarzenegger announced a $100,000 reward on Friday night for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the individual or individuals who set the fire. Los Angeles county may add another $50,000 reward.
The weekend weather forecast called for cooler temperatures and slightly higher humidity that could help firefighters further surround the blaze, which has cost fire agencies $37 million to fight.
At least a dozen investigators were working to analyse clues found at a charred hillside, including incendiary material reported to have been found there. Officials said the fire was arson but were still investigating who started it and how.
"We are in the early stages, just beginning to put things together," said Los Angeles County sheriff's Lt. Liam Gallagher, who is heading the homicide investigation. "Firefighters losing their lives in the line of duty is an added incentive, but we work every case to the fullest."
Near a large shade tree where crews get their twice daily briefings, firefighters set up a makeshift memorial for Capt. Tedmund Hall and Specialist Arnaldo Quinones. The fallen firefighters helped save about 60 members of an inmate fire crew last Sunday as flames approached their camp when they set a backfire that allowed the group to get to safety.


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Competency trial begins for accused child killer

INDIO, Calif.—A mental competency trial began Monday for a convicted killer accused in the kidnap-murder of a 10-year-old boy more than a decade ago.
At issue is whether Joseph Edward Duncan III is mentally fit to stand trial for the 1997 crimes against Anthony Martinez. The boy was abducted as he played with his brother near their Beaumont home, and his nude and battered body was found two weeks later in the desert east of Los Angeles.
A judge decided earlier this year to suspend criminal proceedings against Duncan until his mental competency is determined. Riverside County district attorney spokesman Michael Jeandron said the competency trial is expected to last four weeks.
Duncan was convicted last year in Idaho of the 2005 kidnapping, sexual abuse and torture of 9-year old Dylan Groene and his 8-year old sister Shasta, and Dylan's murder. He was also convicted of killing the children's older brother, mother and fiance at their home near Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.
He received three death sentences and multiple life sentences for those crimes.
In the California case, defense and attorneys and prosecutors are both relying on testimony from psychiatrists. Defense attorneys say Duncan is delusional and suffers from mental illness, while prosecutors say he has been competent while in a local jail, the Press-Enterprise reported Monday.
Duncan previously had been sentenced to 20 years in prison for sexually assaulting a 14-year old boy in
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Tacoma, Wash., in 1980. He was paroled in 1994 but was returned to prison in 1997 after breaking the conditions. He was released in 2000.


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