Guilty: Oyler Convicted in Deaths of 5 Firefighters

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Jurors announced guilty verdicts Friday on five murder counts in the case of a man accused of setting 23 Riverside County brush fires, including one that killed five firefighters.

Verdicts Announced in Oyler Trial

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Raymond Lee Oyler is found guilty on five murder counts.

The four-man, eight-woman panel weighing Raymond Lee Oyler's fate was brought into court at 1:30 p.m. Friday.

Jurors initially announced they were deadlocked on three counts. They returned to the courtroom to announce they had reached a guilty verdict on five murder counts.

The penalty phase of the case is expected to begin Tuesday morning.

At least a dozen current and retired fire personnel filled the left side of the courtroom. They were seated directly behind relatives of the five fallen USFS crew members.

Oyler, 38, faces a possible death sentence for causing the blaze that killed Capt. Mark Allen Loutzenhiser, 43, and firefighters Jason Robert McKay, 27, Jess Edward McLean, 27, Daniel Hoover-Najera, 20, and Pablo Cerda, 24, who were overcome by flames while defending a home near Twin Pines.

The jury also convicted Oyler of 37 other arson-related counts.

Oyler was charged with five counts of first-degree murder, 23 counts of arson and 17 counts of using an incendiary device for fires set between May 16, 2006 and Oct. 26, 2006.

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NBC San Diego Story Link

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Prosecutor: SoCal Arson Killer Felt 'All Powerful'

RIVERSIDE, Calif. --

Prosecutors on Tuesday urged jurors to recommend the death penalty for a man convicted of murdering five firefighters by igniting a Southern California wildfire, but his lawyers said he should get life in prison without parole because he didn't intend to kill anyone.

Riverside County prosecutor Michael Hestrin told jurors in closing arguments of the trial's penalty phase that Raymond Lee Oyler caused terror in rural communities by setting the fires and horrific pain to the firefighters before they succumbed.

Link to story:

Firehouse.com article