Man convicted in fire deaths
 

California mechanic could face death penalty

Associated Press
March 6, 2009, 4:38PM

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — A jury has convicted an auto mechanic of murdering five firefighters who were overrun by an arson wildfire in a Southern California mountain community in 2006.

The guilty verdicts were returned Friday against 38-year-old Raymond Lee Oyler in Riverside County Superior Court. He could face the death penalty.
Oyler has also been convicted of 20 counts of arson. The jury deadlocked on three other arson counts.

Verdicts have yet to be read on 17 counts of using an incendiary device.
Oyler was charged with setting fires between May 16, 2006, and Oct. 26, 2006.

The crew of San Bernardino National Forest Engine 57 was overrun by a fire in October while defending an isolated home in the San Jacinto Mountains, about 90 miles east of Los Angeles.