Janitor to Stand Trial in Tustin Bookkeeper’s Fiery Death : Courts: Jonathan Daniel D’Arcy, 30, of La Habra is charged with torturing and murdering the woman, who was doused with gasoline and set on fire after a dispute.

A La Habra janitor was ordered Friday to stand trial on charges of torturing and murdering a Tustin bookkeeper by dousing her with gasoline after a dispute over a $150 check, then walking away as she was engulfed in flames.

Jonathan Daniel D’Arcy, 30, wept as he sat shackled during a preliminary hearing in Municipal Court. He could face the death penalty if convicted of the fatal Feb. 2 attack on Karen LaBorde, 42, of Orange, who died the next day from her injuries.

LaBorde worked as a bookkeeper for a building maintenance company that employed D’Arcy as a contract janitor. D’Arcy, who has a criminal record for burglary and a history of domestic violence, had gone to LaBorde to demand a $150 check he claimed had not been paid, police said.

A key issue during the court hearing Friday was whether D’Arcy set LaBorde on fire.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert Molko did not present evidence about what was used to ignite the gasoline. A cigarette lighter found at the scene did not carry D’Arcy’s fingerprints. Molko said outside of court that evidence presented at trial will prove that D’Arcy set LaBorde on fire.

But defense attorney Jennifer L. Keller suggested during the preliminary hearing that a working space heater located in LaBorde’s office could have ignited the gasoline.

Tustin Fire Department Investigator Russell Jones ruled out that possibility and said the fire was started by an open flame and originated on LaBorde’s body.

“She was sitting in an office chair (when set on fire), rolled and crumpled out of the chair without taking a step,” Jones said.

Keller said her client is mentally and emotionally disturbed--a claim she said will play a major role in his defense. But police testimony suggested that D’Arcy’s actions were deliberate.

“I’m the guy you’re looking to arrest,” D’Arcy told police when officers found him near the crime scene, according to the testimony.

Tustin Detective Nasario Solis said he was helping D’Arcy out of the patrol car when D’Arcy queried him about the penalties for attempted murder.

“He wanted to know how much time he would be looking at for attempted murder,” Solis testified.

Keller said such comments wrongly give the impression of a “guilty” frame of mind. She said D’Arcy also told police he could not remember the incident.

Keller said outside of court that her client cries when she discusses the case with him because he has learned that LaBorde was a churchgoing woman who lived for her family.

“He’s not a monster--everyone thinks he’s a monster but it’s not true,” Keller said. “He knows that the woman who died was certainly a wonderful woman and it just hurts him to think about it.”

Municipal Judge Donna L. Crandall said she found “troubling” prosecutors’ attempts to prove LaBorde was tortured to death, but ultimately upheld the charges.

Keller had asked Crandall to dismiss the torture allegation, which makes D’Arcy eligible for the death penalty. Keller said upholding the charge would mean that every arson that results in death would be a capital offense.

But the prosecutor told the judge that this case was not comparable to a situation where an arsonist sets a building on fire, not knowing that a person is inside.

“It’s not burning a building, it’s burning a person . . . it’s a vicious torture,” Molko argued.