RIVERSIDE — After barely a day of deliberation, a Riverside County jury on Wednesday returned a verdict of death for Raymond Lee Oyler for starting the 2006 Esperanza fire in the foothills of the San Jacinto Mountains that killed five firefighters, destroyed 34 homes and charred more than 41,000 acres.
Firefighters and the families of the victims hailed the decision and said it offered a measure of justice for a crime they said had torn a hole in the fabric of their lives.
"For the last 2 1/2 years, life has been unbearable," said Gloria Ayala, the mother of Daniel Hoover-Najera, one of the firefighters killed in the blaze. "Danny is no longer down the hallway, no longer a conversation away. This loss is almost too much, but now justice will be served."
She also had a message for Oyler.
"I harbor no anger, only hope that you understand the depth of pain you caused us and your family," Ayala said, as she stood with the families of other victims outside the courthouse. "More importantly, I forgive you for the act that took my son's life."
Judge W. Charles Morgan will sentence Oyler to death or life in prison without parole at a hearing June 5.
Oyler, 38, was convicted March 6 of five counts of first-degree murder, 20 counts of arson and 17 counts of using an incendiary device. Prosecutors said the Beaumont mechanic had set fires throughout the San Gorgonio Pass in the summer of 2006 leading up to the Esperanza fire on Oct. 26.
Early that morning, he used a combination of matches and a cigarette to light a fire in a remote area of Cabazon. Gusty Santa Ana winds drove the flames into the San Jacinto Mountains, where they reached speeds of 40 mph and temperatures of 1,500 degrees.
A U.S. Forest Service firefighting crew based in Idyllwild was overrun by flames while trying to save a house. In addition to Hoover-Najera, 20, the victims were Pablo Cerda, 23; Mark Loutzenhiser, 43; Jason McKay, 27; and Jess McLean, 27.
The trial lasted more than a month, during which jurors were shown gruesome photos of the dead, some of whom suffered burns to more than 90% of their bodies. But even after seeing and hearing the evidence, and even after convicting Oyler of first-degree murder, the jury was hesitant to sentence him to death.
"I tell you there were more tears today than in any part of the trial," said the jury foreman, who declined to give his name. "People kept asking, 'What if? What if?' But when we looked at those pictures of the firemen again, that convinced us."
