Convicted Child Molester Kills Himself in Car Wreck : Crime: While awaiting sentencing, the Camarillo man slams his vehicle into Mugu Rock.

A Camarillo man awaiting sentencing on child molestation charges killed himself by slamming his car into Mugu Rock, authorities said Friday.

William C. Marz’s death came one day after a Ventura County judge rejected a prosecutor’s plea to lock him up because he was suicidal.

Marz, 65, was killed when his car crashed head-on into the landmark rock at 9:40 p.m. Thursday, just off Pacific Coast Highway south of Oxnard, sheriff’s deputies said.

Deputy Coroner Jim Wingate said there were no skid marks leading to the rock which the car struck before bursting into flame. Four or five “very brave” people pulled Marz out of the car, Wingate said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

On Wednesday, Deputy Dist. Atty. Dee Corona asked Superior Court Judge Charles Campbell to place Marz in custody for his own safety. Corona informed the judge that Marz had told several people that he was going to kill himself.

“It’s pretty upsetting,” the distraught prosecutor said Friday afternoon. “I tried to save him but I wasn’t able to.”

Countering Corona’s motion, public defender Neil Quinn, who was representing Marz, objected to his client being placed in custody without being given a “notice hearing.” This would give Quinn two days to review the case, Corona said.

Campbell rejected Corona’s request. Neither Quinn nor Campbell could be reached late Friday to respond to Corona’s statement.

Marz, who pleaded guilty July 22 to child molestation, was to be assigned a new psychologist for evaluation--the reason for the hearing on Wednesday--and was scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 21, Corona said.

She said the maximum penalty for the charge is 16 years in prison, but her office had yet to decide what sentence it would recommend to the court.

According to allegations made to authorities, the child molestation incidents date back more than a decade--from November, 1982, to December, 1990, Corona said.

Sheriff’s Lt. Leslie Warren, citing a California Highway Patrol report, said Marz’s sedan had been traveling north on Pacific Coast Highway when it struck the landmark rock, which climbers often use to sharpen their skills.

Deputy Coroner Mitch Breese, whose office autopsied the body on Friday, said the cause of death was traumatic head injuries. Investigator Wingate, who was called to the crash scene, said several people quickly pulled Marz from the car before it erupted in fire.

“Some very brave people got him out of the car, so his body was not burned,” Wingate said.