D.A. Won’t Seek Death Penalty in Double Slaying

The death penalty will not be sought in the trial of a La Crescenta man charged in the May 22 double murder of an elderly Upper Ojai man and his daughter, prosecutors said Tuesday.

The announcement comes just three days before the trial of Miguel Hugo Garcia is slated to begin in the shooting deaths of 83-year-old Albert “Jim” Alexander and his 42-year-old daughter, Helen Dorothy Giardina.

The furniture store owner pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity June 11 on the two murder counts.

James Farley, Garcia’s Ventura attorney, acknowledged that a double murder would usually call for the death penalty, but said that his client’s obvious mental instability gave prosecutors little choice.

“The man’s insane and if he’s insane, then the probable outcome of the whole thing will be not guilty by reason of insanity, and so far in California, the law says you cannot execute an insane person,” Farley said. “In this case I think the district attorney of this county made a good decision.”

Michael Bradbury reached his decision after reviewing the office’s “death penalty protocol,” which consists of studying a given case’s background. Factors considered include the circumstances and gravity of the offense, as well as the history of the accused.

Coroner’s officials have said Giardina was shot 12 times and Alexander six.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Bob Calvert declined to comment on what role Garcia’s mental state played in the decision.

“All I can say is that in this one, we decided that life without the possibility of parole was the correct position to take,” he said. “The jury will determine whether in fact he was sane or insane at the time.”

Garcia, who owns a 20-acre tract next to Alexander’s property, has a long history of mental illness and was on medication at the time of the shooting, Farley has said previously.

Garcia shared dinner with his neighbors and the next morning, admitted committing the shooting to a 911 operator he called. Giardina had recently moved to the Upper Ojai home to care for her ailing father.

On the chilling 911 tape played at a June 28 preliminary hearing, Garcia told the operator he believed he had slain “the devil” and a “demon” to protect Giardina’s 3-year-old son, who was at the ranch house at the time.

Garcia met arriving deputies outside the blood-stained home the morning after the shooting, clasping the unharmed boy’s hand.

“The guy was loony, obviously, he could have taken my son out, too,” said Thomas Giardina, Helen Giardina’s husband, after the shooting.

A week before, Garcia allegedly threatened, assaulted and tried to escape from Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies after he was stopped for speeding in Malibu. Deputies described Garcia’s behavior as “bizarre” and “irrational,” but said he acted more like the “world’s greatest jerk” than a psychotic person.

Garcia remains in custody in the Ventura County Jail.