Jan. 27
CALIFORNIA:
LA man charged with murder over train crash
A California man who parked his car on train tracks faces multiple murder
charges in the deaths of 11 people in a fiery chain-reaction crash after a
commuter train struck his vehicle.
Officials signalled they might seek the death penalty in the case.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley said on Thursday the 11
counts of murder were filed with "special circumstances," clearing the way
for prosecutors to seek the execution of Juan Manual Alvarez, 25, in
connection with the accident.
200 people were also injured when 2 commuter trains smashed together and
derailed in a fiery wreck on Wednesday.
Police said Alvarez, who has a history of mental, family and drug
problems, had slashed his wrists and stabbed himself in the chest shortly
before parking his sport-utility vehicle on the tracks, but jumped clear
at the last moment and watched the ensuing collisions.
Alvarez was not injured in the crash and was described by police as
distraught and remorseful. He was being kept under suicide watch in the
jail ward of a local hospital before an expected arraignment later on
Thursday.
"The facts are pretty self-evident to us and we are filing charges based
on the evidence that has been gathered," Cooley told CNN. "The train's
been derailed. It was his car that caused the derailment. He put the car
there."
DEATH PENALTY DECISION
Cooley said authorities would decide whether to pursue the death penalty
after evaluating the case.
"He certainly intended to commit the act of train derailment. And under
California law, committing that act alone, whether one intended to kill
anyone on the train or not, can lead to murder charges," Cooley said.
Metrolink, the Southern California commuter rail service that operates the
train tracks, said it was the worst accident in its 13-year history.
Relatives described Alvarez as a handyman who separated from his wife
Carmelita about 3 months ago. According to court records, his wife had
taken out a restraining order claiming he was on drugs and had threatened
to abduct their 3-year-old son.
"He was having problems with drugs and all that and was violent. and
because of that he separated from her," Alvarez's sister-in-law Maricela
Amaya told Spanish television station Telemundo.
"A few other times he went around as if he wanted to kill himself. I said
if you're going to kill yourself, go kill yourself far away," Amaya said.
Alvarez was arrested in 1999 for cocaine possession, according to court
records. Police said they would perform tests to determine whether Alvarez
had drugs in his system at the time of Wednesday's crash.
Authorities said on Thursday all passengers on the 2 trains had been
accounted for, clearing the way for railroad workers to start removing the
twisted wreckage.
(source: Reuters)
