Life Term : Makeup Artist Sentenced in 2 Bomb Deaths

A North Hollywood makeup artist was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole in the 1986 deaths of two Los Angeles Police Department explosives experts.

Donald Morse, 39, was sentenced by San Fernando Superior Court Judge John H. Major. Morse was convicted April 3 of two counts of first-degree murder and one count of possessing explosives in the deaths of the officers, who were killed while trying to dismantle a pipe bomb at his home.

Morse also was convicted of special-circumstance allegations that would have qualified him for the death penalty. But the district attorney’s office decided not to seek such a sentence.

Killed in the explosion Feb. 8, 1986, were Detective Arleigh McCree, 46, commander of the Los Angeles Police Department’s bomb squad, and Officer Ronald Ball, 43. The officers were the first Los Angeles bomb squad members to be killed in the line of duty.

Before his sentencing Wednesday, Morse was allowed to make a brief statement to the court.

Statement to Court

“I have been accused and convicted of something I have not done,” Morse said, holding up a Bible. “I can’t think of any reason I would hurt anyone. In my heart and conscience, I am clear that I am not a murderer.”

Morse, dressed in a dark gray suit, said he brought the Bible to court because “this is the book I try to live by, to respect others by.” Morse appeared calm moments later when Major pronounced the sentence.

Afterward, Edie McCree, the detective’s widow, said she is comfortable with the penalty imposed on Morse. She said she was not surprised by Morse’s statement in court. “What else can he say? The evidence showed that he did it.”

Morse’s attorney, Bernard J. Rosen, said his client will appeal. Rosen said Major erred when he refused to allow the introduction of evidence suggesting that the officers were negligent and caused their own deaths.

Major ruled that because the bomb was an illegal and deadly device, its possession was at least a contributing factor in the officers’ deaths.

Alvin Morse, the defendant’s 38-year-old brother, who lived with him at the time of the blast, said his brother could not get a fair trial because the “judge led the jury in the direction he wanted them to go.”

Alvin Morse said he and his brother had no knowledge of the bombs found in the garage of the North Hollywood home they shared.

Searching for Pistol

Police said they went to Morse’s home to search for a pistol used four days earlier to shoot an official of the Makeup Artists and Hair Stylists Union Local 706, of which Morse was a member. The gun was not found, and Morse was not charged in the shooting.

While searching the defendant’s garage, officers found two pipe bombs and summoned McCree and Ball. The two dismantled one bomb, but were killed while trying to defuse the second.

During the trial, police testified that Morse denied any knowledge of the bombs when they were discovered. Deputy Dist. Atty. Sterling E. Norris argued that as a result, Morse contributed to the officer’s deaths by withholding information that could have helped the officers defuse the devices.

Police experts testified that Morse’s fingerprints were found on several items surrounding the bombs and that explosive powder, batteries, tape and electrical wires used in the manufacture of bombs were in the garage and in the house. They also testified that the defendant’s fingerprints were found on a copy of a bomb-making manual found in his library.