Facts of the Crime:
A convicted arsonist was sentenced to death in Riverside County on June 5, 2009 for setting a Southern California wildfire that killed five federal firefighters struggling to defend a rural home from raging, wind-driven flames. Raymond Lee Oyler, 38, was found guilty in March 2009 of five counts of first-degree murder for setting the October 26, 2006 blaze about 90 miles east of Los Angeles.
Riverside County Superior Court Judge W. Charles Morgan said Oyler "set on a mission ... to wreak havoc in this county" by setting fires and became increasingly proficient. "He knew that young men and women would put their lives on the line to protect other people and property and he continued anyway," Morgan said. Oyler's case is believed to mark the first time a death sentence has been ordered in the United States for an arson wildfire involving the deaths of firefighters, said John Hall, a spokesman for the district attorney. During the trial the prosecution characterized Oyler as a serial arsonist who was bent on destruction, "a man wanting to be so important he unleashed disaster on five men." 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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