By Gillian Flaccus
The Associated Press
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — A judge on Tuesday ordered a man accused of setting a wildfire that killed five firefighters to stand trial on charges of murder and arson.
Raymond Lee Oyler, 36, faces 22 counts of arson and 17 counts of use of an incendiary device for allegedly setting nearly two dozen fires between May 16 and October 26 of last year. He was also charged with five counts of first-degree murder.
Superior Court Judge Jeffrey J. Prevost’s decision concluded a two-day preliminary hearing to determine whether there was enough evidence to proceed to trial.
The judge also found probable cause for special circumstance allegations that could make Oyler eligible for the death penalty. Deputy District Attorney Michael Hestrin said his department hadn’t decided whether to seek the death sentence.
Relatives of the dead firefighters sobbed and clutched one another as Prevost read his ruling. Oyler, an auto mechanic, showed no emotion, but some of his family members cried quietly.
The judge also tossed an arson count for a Sept. 16 blaze from which investigators could not recover any incendiary device.
The deadly fire was ignited amid fierce Santa Ana winds and eventually charred more than 60 square miles in the San Jacinto Mountains and adjacent areas in Riverside County, about 90 miles east of Los Angeles. Oyler was arrested Oct. 31, days after it began.
“When the defendant is arrested, there’s no more fires,” Hestrin told the judge. “There hasn’t been another single arson fire in the Banning Pass area. It’s inconceivable that this was not done by one defendant and not done by Mr. Oyler.”
Defense attorney Mark McDonald countered that the devices investigators found at the scene differed too much to have been made by just one person.
“I think even for purposes of preliminary hearing, I think the evidence falls short,” he told the judge.
Oyler’s fiancee, Crystal Breazile — called by the prosecution as a hostile witness — testified earlier Tuesday that she had threatened to leave him if he didn’t stop setting fires. But she denied that Oyler set the fatal blaze.
Oyler’s second cousin Jill Frame also testified that he told her he cased a mountain in the Banning area for a good spot to set a fire.
David Wu, a criminalist for the state Department of Justice, testified that he matched Oyler’s DNA with samples from cigarette butts used to start fires in June.
Firefighters Jason McKay, 27; Jess McLean, 27; Daniel Hoover-Najera, 20; Mark Loutzenhiser, 43; and Pablo Cerda, 23, were overrun by flames on Oct. 26 while protecting a home.