A man who parked his SUV on railroad tracks in a Los Angeles suburb, causing a train derailment that killed 11 commuters and injured 180 others, was sentenced Wednesday to 11 consecutive life prison terms.
Juan Manuel Alvarez was convicted in June of 11 counts of first-degree murder, along with one count of arson, for his actions on January 26, 2005, which resulted in the deadliest U.S. train crash since 1999.
The same jury that found him guilty recommended last month that29-year-old man be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole rather than death.
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, but changed his mind and couldn't get the SUV off the tracks.
"I was going to kill myself," Alvarez said. "I feel terrible and I ask for forgiveness."
But 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.
Investigators said gasoline had been poured on both the inside and outside of Alvarez's SUV. That caused a fire after a commuter train smashed into the vehicle on the tracks.
The 2005 crash was the deadliest train accident in the history of Los Angeles' Metrolink commuter rail system, which began service in 1992.
Source:Xinhua
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