Man Had Escaped From Canada : Killer Sentenced Over Handgun Thefts

A confessed killer who escaped from a mental hospital in Canada was sentenced Friday to two years in state prison for stealing handguns, ammunition and knives from a North Hollywood outdoor supply store.

But authorities said they will ask U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service agents to deport Giovanni Fasciano, 27, before he begins his prison term. Fasciano has repeatedly admitted that in 1980 he killed his mother with an ax, according to court documents.

Fasciano was arrested by Los Angeles police Sept. 27 while attempting to steal more than 20 handguns, hunting knives and ammunition from Western Surplus at 5209 Lankershim Blvd. Police said Fasciano triggered the burglar alarm when he broke through the building’s roof. He was found inside the store, with the weapons stashed in duffel bags.

Fasciano pleaded guilty to charges of burglary and theft in San Fernando Superior Court last month.

After his arrest, authorities learned that Fasciano had escaped from a Montreal hospital for the criminally insane in May, 1988. Fasciano was committed to the hospital by Canadian authorities in 1980, after he killed his mother and chopped up her body, according to court documents.

Living in North Hollywood

He told authorities that he had been living in a North Hollywood apartment since his escape.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Ken Barshop and Deputy Public Defender Tim Murphy, Fasciano’s attorney, said they believe that Fasciano should be returned to the Canadian mental hospital to receive medical attention. They said local taxpayers should not have to pay for his incarceration here.

Murphy said that Fasciano is eager to return to the hospital and that he left only to take a vacation.

Canadian authorities are unwilling to pay to extradite Fasciano, which means that U.S. officials will have to escort him to Canada, Judge John P. Farrell said.

Farrell said he could not arrange for Fasciano’s deportation, so instead he sentenced him to two years in prison without the possibility of probation or parole. However, he said he hoped that INS agents will deport Fasciano immediately or upon completion of his prison term.