Local News in Brief : Jury Urges Killer’s Death
Jurors have recommended the death penalty for a man who broke into the home of an elderly woman, raped her, broke her neck, tied her to a bed and set it on fire.
Neighbors who heard Mary Litovich’s screams broke her bedroom window in an attempt to save her, but the 65-year-old El Sereno woman died in the inferno before they could reach her, Deputy Dist. Atty. Lauren Weis said.
Her killer, Manuel Mendoza, 23, of Alhambra, was convicted May 12 of one count each of first-degree murder, rape, arson and robbery in the February, 1986, attack. Mendoza was also found guilty on several special circumstance allegations, including murder during a rape and during arson.
Mendoza, scheduled to be formally sentenced July 22, was also convicted of other crimes unrelated to the attack on Litovich. Those crimes included kidnaping and robbing three other people, holding up a liquor store and committing a burglary.
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