Suspect in San Marino Fire Dies of Injuries : Arson: Man’s family perished in the blaze. Authorities believe he set it to collect on life insurance.

The lone survivor of a San Marino arson fire that killed his wife, three children and a housekeeper died of his injuries Friday, thwarting authorities’ plans to charge him with murder.

Leonardo Morita, 46--who authorities believe was engaged in a plot to collect on his family’s new life insurance policy--was severely burned in the May 29 explosion and fire that gutted the family’s two-story home in a wealthy neighborhood.

Doctors at County-USC Medical Center removed him from life support after determining that his brain activity had ceased, said hospital spokesman Harvey Kern. Morita’s condition deteriorated after he contracted pneumonia and other complications from his burns, Kern said.

Overwhelming evidence links Morita to the crime, authorities said, but the district attorney’s office delayed filing five counts of murder against him when it became clear that he would die, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Pat Dixon.

“There’s no doubt he did this horrendous act,” said San Marino Mayor Bernie Le Sage. “But certainly we would have liked to have gotten a statement from him about his motive for what is an incomprehensible crime.

“There is a bit of poetic justice in [his death], but in terms of satisfying the community needs for answers, we’ll never know what happened.”

Meanwhile, authorities revealed new details about the blaze.

Minutes after firefighters arrived on the scene at 5:15 a.m., it became clear that Morita was the only suspect, said Police Chief Frank J. Wills, who is also San Marino’s fire chief.

Investigators, who found no forced entry, believe that Morita tried to make the incident look like part of a botched robbery attempt by breaking a kitchen window before he set the house on fire. But in the process, he accidentally cut himself on the right hand, leaving a deep gash.

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Morita had staggered out of the house with second-degree burns and lung damage, and with the smell of gasoline on his clothes. In his pockets, investigators found items including a book of matches and a paper towel.

Apparently, Morita had planned to douse the house with gasoline before escaping and toss a lighted paper towel to ignite the blaze. But he had poured so much gas on the staircase to prevent his sleeping family from escaping that it leaked into the basement. The fuel was ignited by the water heater’s pilot flame, sparking an explosion.

None of the victims were found in their beds, indicating that they had survived the initial explosion and tried to flee, Wills said.

In the house’s rubble, authorities found plastic buckets and five-gallon gas cans from Morita’s place of employment, the Hyperion Sewage Treatment Plant in Playa del Rey, where he worked as a city electrician. Also, investigators noted, Morita’s station wagon smelled of gasoline.

In January, Morita had taken out a $500,000 life insurance policy on his wife, Lucy, 45, and a $20,000 policy on each child: Clint, 10, Krishna, 14, and Rama, 15. But he bought no policy for himself.

“This was a clear motive,” Wills said. “Certainly this was a good family, but Mr. Morita himself had some personal problems, some psychological stresses in his life.”

Days before the fire, neighbors noted that the street address on the Moritas’ curb had been blacked out. Investigators speculated that Morita did that in an attempt to delay an investigation.