Man, 42, Charged With Attempted Murder
Attempted murder charges were filed Friday against an unemployed man arrested for allegedly trying to set fire to his ex-wife’s home, an attack inspired, police say, by a fire that killed seven people a day earlier.
Steven Walter Crowley, 42, was arraigned in Glendale Municipal Court on two counts of attempted murder and one count of residential burglary.
Crowley was arrested Wednesday night after police responded to a call at his ex-wife’s Grover Avenue house. Police said Crowley broke into the house and waited several hours for his former wife, Suzan, and their 13-year-old daughter, Jenna, to return.
He confessed, police said, to knocking his wife unconscious and then beating his daughter and trying to strangle her.
When police inspected the trunk of Crowley’s car, they found four three-gallon jugs of paint thinner as well as lighter fluid, cooking fuel, a lighter and two pairs of gloves. The trunk also contained bolt cutters, a ratchet tool and two knives.
Jorjik Avanesian, also of Glendale, was arrested Tuesday morning for allegedly setting fire to the apartment occupied by his wife and six children. All seven family members were killed.
If convicted, Crowley faces a life sentence in prison, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Barbara Murphy.
A preliminary hearing is set for Feb. 26. Crowley is being held at Los Angeles County Jail without bail.
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