Shot Father in Hospital : Killer Is Convicted on Reduced Charge

A Covina man who admitted shooting and killing his father at the Sepulveda Veterans Administration Hospital, but said he believed he was acting on instructions from God, was convicted Tuesday of voluntary manslaughter.

The man, Christopher Michael Mazurek, 28, had been charged with first-degree murder in the Oct. 20, 1984, killing. However, Van Nuys Superior Court Judge James A. Albracht, who heard the case without a jury, said he believed that Mazurek broke down mentally after years of torment by his father and, therefore, was guilty only of manslaughter.

Mazurek closed his eyes and took a deep breath after the verdict was announced. He faces a maximum of 13 years in prison when sentenced by Albracht on Nov. 24, but the judge could elect to put him on probation.

Testimony during the three-day trial revealed that the victim, Walter C. Mazurek, 54, of Woodland Hills, had a lengthy history of mental illness and misdemeanor arrests and continually beat and threatened his wife, Elizabeth.

She testified for the defense that her husband telephoned her from the mental ward of the Sepulveda VA Hospital the day of the slaying, telling her that he was being discharged and planned to return home and kill her.

Christopher Mazurek testified that, when his mother informed him of the threat, he prayed to God for guidance. He said God responded, “The devil must be stopped and you have to do it.”

Mazurek testified that he drove to the hospital believing that he was on a divine mission to eliminate the devil. He said he has since become active in a church and no longer believes that God commanded him to kill his father.

Defense attorney Godfrey Isaac argued that Mazurek acted out of fear for his mother’s safety and that the killing amounted to justifiable homicide.

Albracht rejected that argument, but said he believed that Mazurek was operating under severe mental duress and “felt compelled by circumstances to do something he knew was morally and legally wrong.”

Mazurek has been suspended from his job as a Los Angeles County firefighter pending resolution of the case.