Closing arguments begin in Metrolink case

LOS ANGELES — Deputy Dist. Atty. John Monaghan told jurors during closing arguments Wednesday that Juan Manuel Alvarez never intended to commit suicide when he drove his SUV onto train tracks at Chevy Chase Drive, having instead perpetrated the 2005 Metrolink train derailment that killed 11 and injured more than 180 passengers as an attention-grabbing stunt.

Alvarez is charged with 11 counts of murder with special circumstances and one count each of arson and train wrecking for causing a Jan. 26, 2005, three-train crash when he drove his Jeep Cherokee onto the Metrolink tracks between Glendale and Los Angeles and doused his vehicle with gasoline.

He could face the death penalty if convicted.

When Alvarez testified on May 27, the Los Feliz resident told jurors he also soaked himself in gasoline hoping to burn himself alive after deciding to commit suicide earlier that morning. But prosecutors pointed to statements from emergency personnel and doctors, none of whom detected gasoline on Alvarez after the incident, leading Monaghan to speculate why Alvarez soaked his sport utility vehicle with gasoline.

“If you’re going to kill yourself by setting yourself on fire, why pour gas on the back section of the rear seat of the vehicle? It’s because you want to have an explosion,” Monaghan said. “You want to derail a train and make a statement. It has absolutely nothing to do with suicide. If you’re going to set yourself on fire, why waste gasoline putting it all over the vehicle? It’s inconsistent with someone trying to kill himself.”

Monaghan spent much of his 80-minute closing statement, which is scheduled to continue today, detailing the testimony of the prosecution’s first two witnesses, who he said contradicted much of what Alvarez said on the stand, and presented scores of gruesome photographs showing victims’ mangled and blood-soaked bodies.

Many of the victims’ family members in court Wednesday sobbed quietly during the presentation, some consoling each other when pictures of their deceased relative flashed on the overhead projector.

They declined to comment, as did Alvarez’s cousin and sister sitting feet from the grieving family members.

Alvarez sat calmly in court Wednesday, dressed in a beige shirt, khaki pants and tie. He showed little emotion, even as Monaghan charged that the 2005 incident — which Metrolink officials called the worst in its history — was no accident.