Man Acquitted in 4 Fire Deaths
A 24-year-old man was acquitted Thursday murdering of two infants, a teen-ager and an adult by setting fire to a small downtown Los Angeles apartment house to avenge the dismissal of his mother as the building manager.
A Los Angeles Superior Court jury also found Augustine Morales, a Mexican national, not guilty of arson in the Jan. 6, 1986, fire that swept through a two-room apartment at 1116 S. Flower St. The victims, including an 8-month-old girl and a 2-year-old boy, were members of an extended family of Mexican garment workers.
Morales’ first trial ended in a mistrial last July when a jury deadlocked 9-3 for conviction. The jury foreman in that trial said that the three who voted for acquittal believed police had coerced a confession out of Morales.
The latest jury had deliberated since Tuesday. Morales and his mother, Erlinda Morales, wept when the acquittal verdict was translated into Spanish.
Morales, who had been in custody for nearly three years, was ordered released by Judge Curtis Rappe.
If convicted, he could have gone to the gas chamber.
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