Day Laborer Faces Murder Charge : Crime: Mario Navarro could face death penalty if convicted in slaying of woman, 74. He is also accused of attempted rape.

Prosecutors filed murder and attempted rape charges Friday against a day laborer who could face the death penalty in connection with the slaying Wednesday of a 74-year-old Porter Ranch woman whose screams for help were ignored by neighbors.

Mario Sanchez Navarro, 26, of Pacoima is scheduled to be arraigned Monday in Van Nuys Municipal Court.

At that time, he will be charged with murder and three special circumstances alleging that he killed Helen Forkner, a widow who lived alone at the Park Northridge condominiums, while burglarizing her condo and attempting to rape her.

Although the special circumstances could make Navarro eligible for the death penalty if he is found guilty, prosecutors have not decided whether to seek it, Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert Dver said. That decision will be made by a committee of prosecutors after a preliminary hearing, he said.

Dver declined to comment about the continuing investigation into the woman’s eath.

Police have said that neighbors at Forkner’s exclusive, 195-unit condominium complex ignored the woman’s screams when she was initially attacked about 2 a.m. Wednesday.

A house guest nearby said he mistakenly believed the shouts and screams he heard were a domestic dispute. Three hours later, when he heard screams again, he learned an elderly woman lived alone next door, noticed that a screen door had been pried, and called police.

When officers arrived shortly before 5:30 a.m., they found Forkner’s nude body lying on the side of a steep canyon beneath the balcony of her condominium.

Police speculated that Navarro, who was working on earthquake repairs in the condominium complex, entered the woman’s unit by smashing a front window. The intruder then beat Forkner with a blunt object and tried to sexually assault her, authorities said. Investigators also suspect that the assailant left the condo for a while, then returned and killed Forkner.

Navarro was arrested in a brushy area near the complex, minutes after police arrived, Dyer said. His clothes were bloodstained, and he was carrying a can of paint thinner, leading police to suspect that he intended to set the blood-spattered condo afire.

Residents of the complex complained that earthquake repair workers had been drinking and taking drugs during late-night parties in the vacant units near Forkner’s.