The Region - News from Oct. 20, 1986

A former mental patient was sentenced to 17 years in prison for gouging out the eyes of a 78-year-old woman he claimed was the devil. Anthony Amaviska, 39, received the maximum sentence for attempted murder and inflicting great bodily harm. Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Michael Cowell added five years because of a previous conviction. Amaviska--who had been in and out of mental hospitals 35 times and arrested nearly 50 times--gave Cowell a letter before the sentencing in which he said God ordered him to attack Ida Williams from behind as she walked to a market on Oct. 10, 1985. A passing truck driver chased the attacker off with a hammer.