San Diego County man gets 10 years in death of girlfriend by cannon

A 41-year-old handyman and explosives enthusiast was sentenced Monday to 10 years in prison for the incident in which a blast from his homemade cannon ripped through his trailer and killed his girlfriend.

Richard Fox pleaded guilty in July to felony charges involving the explosion of a destructive device and possession of ingredients for such a device. Prosecutors said he never intended to harm his girlfriend.

On the night of March 3, 2012, Fox and a friend were loading a homemade cannon with powder from fireworks when it exploded, sending shrapnel into the trailer where Fox, his girlfriend, and their 4-year-old daughter lived.

Fox’s girlfriend, Jeanette Ogara, 38, was killed instantly. The child and three other adults in the trailer were unharmed.

Fox, who had been drinking, was burned in the explosion and treated at a local hospital, authorities said. The couple had lived in the trailer in Potrero, in rural eastern San Diego County, for several years.

At his sentencing in the El Cajon branch of the San Diego County Superior Court, Fox tearfully asked his girlfriend’s family for forgiveness: “I am truly sorry from the bottom of my heart.”

Fox served in prison in the 1990s for auto theft and weapons possession – a factor mentioned by Judge Patricia Cookson in giving Fox the maximum sentence. He will receive credit for the two years he has been in jail awaiting trial.

@LATsandiego