Man pleads not guilty to murder in train derailment

LOS ANGELES - A man whose aborted suicide attempt is blamed for a wreck of two trains that killed 11 people pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges of murder and arson.

Juan Manuel Alvarez, 25, who stood in shackles during a brief hearing in Superior Court, is accused of leaving a car on train tracks, causing a Metrolink train to derail and strike another commuter train going the opposite way.

The arson charge was related to evidence found at the crash, prosecutors said.

Alvarez was ordered held without bail pending a March 16 preliminary hearing to decide if there is enough evidence to try him.

Alvarez was being held in a medical section of Los Angeles County jail. Investigators have said he stabbed himself and slashed his wrists after the trains collided, although no injuries were visible.

After the hearing, defense attorney Eric Chase said Alvarez has been receiving medication and is "less suicidal."

Chase said he was unsure whether the case would go to trial but added no plea deal was being discussed.

"Those decisions will be made well down the road," he said.

Prosecutors said they have not decided whether to seek the death penalty or life in prison for Alvarez, who was arrested on Jan. 26 near the wreck site in suburban Glendale, just outside Los Angeles.

Authorities said he changed his mind about killing himself but left his SUV on the tracks. One of the Metrolink trains also knocked over a parked freight locomotive.

Alvarez's attorney entered his plea to an amended complaint that added the name of one victim, Don Wiley, in the 11 murder counts and included a new charge of arson causing great bodily injury.

The complaint also alleges special circumstances of multiple murders and murder caused by train derailment.

Outside the courtroom, Deputy District Attorney Pat Dixon declined to say what the arson count involved. However, prosecutors said it was supported by evidence found at the crash scene and forensically confirmed.

Asked what burned, Dixon replied: "The train, the car, actually some of the victims were burned."

Alvarez's lawyer said he understood the charge involved a suicide attempt made shortly by his client before parking the SUV on the tracks.

"He had poured some gasoline on his own body, and it appears from the evidence that his mind was changed, and he decided on another route, and it was another route which, of course, led to the disaster we had," Chase said.

Chase added that Alvarez never actually set himself on fire.

Chase also said he believed that Alvarez was suffering from an untreated mental illness before the crash.

"He was hearing voices and he was having auditory and visual hallucinations. So there's no question that there was some mental illness," Chase said.

Chase was accompanied by Alvarez's wife, mother, and other relatives.

"We came here to show him support, that we're behind him," said a cousin, Beto Alvarez.

Alvarez' wife Carmelita, described her husband as an insecure man who became despondent because he believed he couldn't provide for his family.

She said that she recently talked to her Alvarez, and he told her he had intended to take his own life, not to hurt anyone else, but had a vision that made him change his mind.

"He was there, and just out of nowhere, he basically, like, saw a light," she said. "'He said he felt like a presence from God telling him to 'get away."'

Chase said his client is remorseful.

"He expresses remorse and a great deal of sorrow for the damage that was caused by his actions," Chase said.