RIVERSIDE, Calif., March 18 (UPI) -- A Southern California jury Wednesday recommended the death penalty for an arsonist in the deaths of five federal firefighters killed battling a 2006 wildfire.
Raymond Oyler, 36, Beaumont, will face sentencing in Riverside June 5 on five murder convictions delivered earlier this month stemming from the massive Esperanza fire that killed five members of a fire crew from the U.S. Forest Service.
KTLA-TV in Los Angeles said Oyler's attorney urged the jury to recommend a life sentence for Oyler, who was also convicted on 42 counts of arson. The judge in the case does not have to follow the jury's recommendation in the formal sentencing.
The Esperanza fire in October 2006 burned more than 41,000 acres in the San Jacinto Mountains and destroyed 34 homes.
The five firefighters died when they were overrun by wind-driven flames while protecting a home.
