DEATH WISH: Mark Scott Thornton got what...

DEATH WISH: Mark Scott Thornton got what he once said he wanted Monday--the convicted killer was sentenced to die for slaying Westlake nurse Kellie O’Sullivan (B1). . . . In an interview in March, the 20-year-old Thornton said he favored the death sentence over a life prison term because it would allow him to escape prison violence. . . . But prison officials say Thornton’s perception of life on Death Row isn’t accurate. “It’s certainly not without risks,” spokeswoman Christine May said. “Incidents can and do happen anywhere in the institution.”

SPECIAL fX: Fox’s new cable network, fX, will swoop into Simi Valley on Wednesday for a behind-the-scenes peek at the making of “Crimson Tide.” . . . Starting at 6:30 a.m., fX’s “Breakfast Time” will do two segments on Dream Quest Images, the Academy Award-winning special effects studio that helped make the movie. . . . “We always try to show audiences things and places they have never seen before,” said Katrina Charmatz, field producer for the morning show. The fX network airs in Thousand Oaks, Camarillo and Ventura.

BLOOD TEST: In her battle against lung cancer, Pat Montague is among the first subjects to be injected with a new blood hormone manufactured by Amgen Inc. . . . For the moment, the Thousand Oaks biotechnology giant has a jump on its competition in the race to market the promising new drug (Valley Business, Page 4). The drug will be tested on cancer patients such as Montague undergoing chemotherapy.

ALL ABOARD: Ventura County law enforcement officers will hop a Metrolink locomotive Wednesday to view first-hand the scofflaws who disrespect railroad law. . . . The train ride will reveal how motorists regularly zip around crossing gates and other safety hazards. . . . So far this year, seven people have been killed on the rails. Simi Valley Councilman Bill Davis, a Metrolink board member, said the outcome is predictable. “The only thing that is going to happen is you’re going to lose, and you’re going to lose big,” he said.