Crime Spree Payoff Is 2 Life Terms

A Pacoima man who culminated a two-month crime rampage by kidnaping a Reseda couple and attempting to burn them alive in their bed was sentenced in Van Nuys Superior Court Friday to two consecutive life terms and 36 years in state prison.

Kenneth J. Nelson, 24, also was denied any reduction in his sentence for good behavior and work done during the almost two years he has been in custody since his arrest.

“He wasn’t good,” Judge James A. Albracht said as he sentenced Nelson to the maximum sentence possible. “As a result of his inability to cooperate with jail staff, he was not eligible for work.”

‘Two-Legged Predator’

Deputy Dist. Atty. Lea Purwin D’Agostino, who prosecuted the case, said Nelson will be eligible for parole in 32 years, “but if he continues to behave the way he has been, he won’t qualify.”

Nelson was described by a probation officer as a “two-legged predator without conscience” and a “beast-like homicidal psychopath.”

He was convicted by a jury last October of 16 felony charges, including attempted murder, robbery, arson and kidnaping, for crimes committed over a two-month stretch beginning in June, 1983.

He was arrested on Aug. 10, 1983, after abducting James T. Jackson, 34, from a Sherman Oaks service station early that morning. Police testified during the trial that Nelson held a gun to Jackson’s head and forced him to drive to the Reseda home he shared with his 30-year-old wife, Renee.

Deputies Oppose Credits

Once there, Nelson robbed the couple and then used stockings and electrical cords to tie them to their bed before setting it afire. Jackson managed to free himself and his wife and control the fire before either was seriously injured.

Sheriff’s deputies appeared in court to oppose giving Nelson credit for work or good behavior while in custody. They said it is unusual for work-time credits to be denied, even for inmates who have been ruled ineligible to work because of security or legal reasons.

Dale Peroutka, a deputy in the legal division of the Sheriff’s Department, said Nelson had committed 16 violations of jail policy, including stabbing another inmate and selling narcotics.

Maximum Recommended

“We need to get the message across to the other inmates that good-time and work-time credits have to be earned,” he said.

Veteran probation officers and a police detective recommended in a strongly worded report that the court impose the maximum sentence.

“Words cannot describe this collection of atoms and possibly other particles which is usually referred to as a human being,” the probation report said. “Life in prison is too good for him.”

The officials also accused Nelson of “taking advantage of the criminal justice system and attempting to make a mockery of it” by acting as his own attorney for several months and then delaying his trial by requesting an attorney just days before proceedings were scheduled to begin.

Victims’ Plea

During a brief statement before the sentencing, Jackson also encouraged a maximum sentence and told the judge that he and his wife would never fully recover from the experience.

“We are pleading, hoping and praying the court will give him the maximum penalty allowed,” Jackson said. “He enjoyed seeing the terror in our faces as he waved that huge gun at us; he enjoyed torturing us and trying to burn us alive . . . and he laughed and giggled and thoroughly enjoyed these court proceedings.”

As he imposed sentence, Albracht noted that Nelson acted like “an interesting and pleasant person to deal with, an intelligent person” during the time he acted as his own lawyer.

“But there was never any doubt in my mind that you were guilty,” he said. “Someone who perpetrated the reign of terror that you did . . . must be isolated from society for the maximum length of time allowed.”

Nelson spoke briefly at the sentencing, saying that he is innocent. He said a probation officer who interviewed him “didn’t want to reflect the kind of person I am, but only to reflect his own personal view.”