Man Guilty in Arson Death of His Father : Verdict: Son is convicted of killing retired police officer who claimed to be inspiration for ‘T.J. Hooker’ TV show.

A jury in Downtown Los Angeles found a former convict guilty of first-degree murder Tuesday in the 1993 arson death of his father, a retired police officer who claimed he was the inspiration for the “T.J. Hooker” television series.

Although the show’s creator disputed the claim, saying actor William Shatner’s portrayal of the world-weary cop was pure Hollywood fiction, the life of LAPD Sgt. Thomas Warren Hooker’s life ended with the cruel irony of a true-crime story.

Once awarded the Los Angeles Police Department’s Medal of Valor for rescuing others from a burning building, Hooker died after his adopted son allegedly set fire to Hooker’s Littlerock home in a scheme to collect insurance money.

“It’s kind of a sad way to go, considering he dedicated his life to saving others only to die at the hands of his son and wife,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Ron Smalstig. “They rescued the dog, but they never went back to save him.”

Smalstig said David Hooker and his stepmother, Joy, watched the fire burn for 45 minutes to an hour but made no attempt to save the bedridden man, who was only 58 but so ravaged by diabetes that he was legally blind and feeble from thrice-weekly kidney dialysis sessions.

Following 10 days of deliberation, the jury Tuesday convicted Hooker, 33, of murder and two counts of arson in his father’s April 19, 1993 death.

According to court records, Hooker and his stepmother admitted to police they’d used newspapers and fireplace embers to ignite a love seat in the family’s Littlerock home. It was the same loveseat, relatives told sheriff’s deputies, where they’d been discovered in a compromising position.

The two admitted they’d planned to collect insurance money to save the house from foreclosure but denied intentionally killing Thomas Hooker, saying they assumed he’d escape on his own.

Smalstig said Joy and David Hooker no longer are in contact.

David Hooker has genius-level intelligence but was always troubled, according to relatives. He spent a decade in federal prison for bank robbery and threatening a U.S. President. While he was in prison, his father spoke often with him on the telephone and sent him blue jeans and other gifts in the mail, according to family members.

He’d been out of prison just over six months when he set the fire that killed his father.

Hooker faces a sentence of up to life in prison when Superior Court Judge Harvey A. Schneider sentences him on July 18.

Meanwhile, Joy Hooker, 51, is scheduled to go on trial in Lancaster June 28 on the same murder and arson charges.

According to court records, on the last night of his life, Thomas Hooker went to bed shortly after midnight, after watching a horror video--”Tales from the Crypt”--with David and Joy.

Joy had fed him a big dinner that night, clipped his toenails, and gave him an extra sleeping pill.

He died about 4 a.m., just inches away from a door that would have led to safety.