Jury Deadlocked on Penalty for Man Who Killed His Family of 7

Unable to agree whether an Iranian immigrant was suffering from delusions when he murdered his wife and six children in an early-morning arson fire in 1996, jurors deadlocked Wednesday on the question of whether he deserves the death penalty for his crime.

Half the jury thought Jorjik Avanesian, 43, of Glendale, was mentally ill, wrongfully believing that his wife and eldest daughters were involved in illicit drugs and acting in pornographic movies and asserting that his prayers told him he should kill them.

The other half agreed with prosecutors that Avanesian was a calculating murderer who knew exactly what he was doing and should be executed even though he may have developed mental problems after realizing the horrors he had done.

“Personally, I thought he knew what he was doing,” said one 23-year-old juror from El Monte, who voted for death and asked that her name not be published. “He made every effort to make sure what he was doing was going to prevail.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Eleanor Hunter, who quickly left the courtroom after speaking privately with jurors, did not return a call seeking comment.

Prosecutors must now decide whether to retry Avanesian on the question of punishment. That decision is expected next month. If prosecutors decide against a retrial, Avanesian will be sentenced to life in prison without chance of parole.

Deputy Public Defender Stanley Perlo, who represented Avanesian, said his client is clearly insane and should be imprisoned forever, but not executed.

“We’re not claiming any great victory. He did all this,” Perlo said outside the courtroom after the hearing. “I just do not see giving the death penalty to someone who is so mentally impaired.”

He said Avanesian’s reaction to being told that the judge had declared a mistrial was to yawn.

Perlo said he had tried to convince Avanesian to enter a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, but the defendant refused.

The jury swiftly convicted Avanesian of murdering his wife, Turan, 37, and six children aged 4 to 17. They had more difficulty with the question of punishment.

Two psychiatrists hired by the defense testified that he suffered from delusions, although they disagreed about Avanesian’s sanity at the time of the crimes.

The defendant’s mental health has been an issue in the case from the start.

At one point, Pasadena Superior Court Judge Janice Croft found Avanesian was mentally unfit to aid in his defense. But after he underwent some psychiatric treatment, she decided he was competent to stand trial.

Perlo said that while medicated, Avanesian is so pliant he will agree to anything. The only issue he continues to bring up is whether “his family is really dead. I’m not sure he completely believes that,” Perlo said.

In an unusual move, the prosecution did not call any witnesses in the penalty phase, arguing principally that the circumstances of the crime were enough to merit Avanesian’s execution.

“Look at the callousness of the defendant’s actions,” Hunter told the jury during her closing argument. “He is watching his kids burn to death--and his wife--and he did absolutely nothing” to help them.

She said the defendant planned the crime in advance, buying gasoline, a knife and an ax. He waited until his wife and children were asleep to strategically place kitchen pots filled with gasoline around the house, then ignite them, Hunter said.

As his family cried out for help, Avanesian fled the burning apartment house, ignoring strangers who were trying to get inside and save the victims. He hid the weapons and later watched the fire from about a block away. The family died of smoke inhalation.

After deliberating about eight hours over the last four days, jurors returned Wednesday morning and told Croft that they had no hope of reaching a unanimous verdict.

The El Monte juror said she believed Avanesian was not insane when he killed his family because he admitted praying for guidance the night before he acted.

“He was asking God, so in his mind he knew he was doing wrong,” she said, adding that she also believed God eventually answered his prayers. As he was getting ready to set the fire, Avanesian told authorities, his youngest child awoke.

“I believe God did send him a sign by his little boy waking up,” she said. “He just didn’t heed the sign.”