Man Found Guilty of Killing Wife, 6 Children

Jurors in a Pasadena courtroom swiftly convicted an Iranian immigrant Wednesday of murdering his wife and six children in an early-morning arson fire, a crime for which he could be executed.

Capping a quick trial, jurors took only about an hour to pick a foreman and convict Jorjik Avanesian on all counts--seven of murder, one of arson--and to find that the special circumstance of multiple murder existed.

The issues were not complicated. Avanesian, 43, had confessed to Glendale police and to the editor of a Persian newspaper moments after leaving his one-bedroom Glendale apartment, his hands and clothing burned. Passersby saw him leave the apartment house as his family cried out for help Feb. 6, 1996.

Deputy Public Defender Stanley Perlo told the jury his client annihilated his family because he was under the delusion that his wife and eldest daughters were taking illicit drugs and making pornographic videos, and that his prayers told him he should kill them and himself. Perlo said the defendant panicked and fled the apartment, leaving his family to die of smoke inhalation.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Eleanor Hunter said Avanesian planned to eliminate his family because of a more pedestrian problem: His 37-year-old wife refused to give him a divorce. Hunter said Avanesian told authorities he bought a knife and an ax with which to hack up his children to spare them a fiery death.

As he left the apartment house, he ignored a man who was trying frantically to get into the building to save the family, according to testimony in the weeklong trial.

Firefighters searching the burned apartment found the bodies of three children piled atop each other in the bedroom, three more in a water-filled bathtub and his wife in the hallway. The children ranged in age from 4 to 17.

“The worst part was that he planned this whole murder days earlier,” Glendale police spokesman Chahe Keuroghelian said. “He asked for the guilty verdict.”

The slaying was not Avanesian’s first attack on his wife. He was arrested after she said he threw a chair at one of their children and brandished a knife. Authorities declined to prosecute, sending Avanesian to counseling instead.

He also told police that he served eight months in an Iranian prison for stabbing his wife, but was allowed into the United States in 1995 after convincing immigration officials that his imprisonment was a case of persecution.

Jurors will now have to decide whether Avanesian deserves to die.

The penalty phase, to begin next week, promises to focus more on Avanesian’s mental health.

Pasadena Superior Court Judge Janice Croft earlier found Avanesian mentally unfit to aid in his defense but, after he got psychiatric care, she decided he was competent to stand trial.

Perlo has lined up two psychiatrists who evaluated Avanesian as witnesses in the trial. He also told the judge he may call the defendant’s sister as a witness. Perlo did not, however, enter a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. He has declined to say why.

When the verdict came in, Perlo said, Avanesian asked to see the coroner’s photos of his dead family.

“It looked like he was saying goodbye,” Perlo said.