Leonardo Morita

Case record: Leonardo Morita

Background

Leonardo Morita was a 46-year-old electrician in San Marino, California. He wanted to collect on the insurance policies he took out on each member of his family. He retained Indonesian citizenship and frequently attended functions at the Indonesian Consulate in Los Angeles. He and his family were members of the San Marino Community Church. The home was owned by Leonardo and Lusje Morita.

A neighbor said a married couple with that name and their three sons and a housekeeper lived at the house. A neighbor, Kitty Reynolds, said Morita recently obscured the house number on the curb with spray paint.

The offence

On May 29, 1995, Morita set his San Marino, California, home ablaze. Authorities believed he carried out the arson to kill his wife, three children, and a housekeeper, and then collect on a life insurance policy. Authorities said investigators had overwhelming and compelling evidence that it was arson and described it as a multiple homicide.

Morita poured so much gasoline on the house’s stairs to make sure no one got out alive that it leaked into the basement and ignited the water heater’s pilot flame, sparking a massive explosion. Fire Chief Frank Wills said five bodies were recovered from the ranch-style house.

Authorities said there were no forced entry signs to the burned-out home. Investigators believed Morita tried to make the incident look like part of a botched robbery attempt by breaking a kitchen window before setting the house on fire. The blaze was so intense that authorities could not immediately determine the sexes of the victims or whether they were children or adults. Later, the dead were identified as Morita’s wife, Lucy, 45, and three children: 10-year-old Clint, 14-year-old Krishna, and 15-year-old Rama, and the family’s 25-year-old housekeeper.

A report said Morita apparently tried to start the fire about 5 a.m. by pouring several gallons of gasoline on the house’s staircase. Another account said minutes after firefighters arrived on the scene at 5:15 a.m., it became clear Morita was the only suspect. In that account, Morita accidentally cut himself on his right hand, leaving a deep gash, and staggered out of the house with second-degree burns and lung damage and the smell of gasoline on his clothes. Investigators found items in his pockets including a book of matches and a paper towel. The account said Morita had planned to douse the house with gasoline before escaping and toss a lighted paper towel to ignite the blaze. None of the victims were found in their beds, indicating they had survived the initial explosion and tried to flee.

Investigation

Fire Chief Frank Wills said the evidence supported arson and that the incident was being treated as a multiple homicide at the time. San Marino and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department arson investigators said overwhelming physical evidence pointed to Morita as the suspect.

Investigators found fuel cans at the scene from Morita’s workplace, the Hyperion Sewage Treatment Plant in Los Angeles, where he worked as a city electrician. Authorities revealed that plastic buckets and five-gallon gas cans from Morita’s place of employment were found in the house’s rubble. Morita’s station wagon smelled of gasoline.

When firefighters arrived, Morita staggered out to his driveway. A report said he was found just outside a back door. Fire Chief Frank Wills said Morita was able to tell investigators there were children upstairs, but they could not make entry because the heat was so intense and flames were coming from every window.

Morita’s purchased life insurance policies were identified as part of the motive. Authorities said Morita recently had purchased a life insurance policy that would pay $500,000 at his wife’s death. Another account stated that in January he took out a $500,000 life insurance policy on his wife, Lucy, 45, and a $20,000 policy on each child: Clint (10), Krishna (14), and Rama (15). He bought no policy for himself. Police Chief Frank J. Wills described it as a clear motive.

Arrest

Authorities said they had sufficient evidence to file murder charges against the only survivor of the arson fire. However, the reports stated Morita was too badly burned to be questioned, and nobody expected him to live.

Trial

No trial occurred.

Sentencing

No sentencing occurred.

Appeals

No appeal occurred.

Outcome

Morita suffered extensive burns in the May 29 explosion and fire that gutted the family’s two-story home. Relatives would decide whether to take him off life support at County-USC Medical Center after he showed minimal brain activity. Doctors later removed him from life support after determining that his brain activity had ceased. He died on July 6, 1995.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Pat Dixon said the district attorney’s office delayed filing five counts of murder against him when it became clear he would die. San Marino Mayor Bernie Le Sage said Morita’s death provided “poetic justice” but that it would not satisfy the community needs for answers, and that they would never know what happened. Police Chief Frank J. Wills and Fire Chief Frank Wills described evidence that supported arson as the cause of the multiple homicide.

Aftermath

A hospital spokesman, Harvey Kern, stated that after Morita was removed from life support, Morita’s condition deteriorated further after contracting pneumonia and other complications from his burns.

Relatives of Morita and community members reacted to the allegations and possibility of his responsibility. Nancy Chen, whose family lived next door to Moritas, said:

"It's completely beyond my imagination," she said. "They were such a happy family; everybody was always laughing. It's real hard for our family to take it that he could do something like this. I hope they find out something different. I won't believe it until I hear it from his own lips."

Fire Chief Frank Wills said:

"We have overwhelming and compelling evidence that it was arson," Fire Chief Frank Wills said. "We're calling it a multiple homicide at this point."

Police Chief Frank J. Wills said authorities were ready to charge Morita with five counts of murder but that “would be purposeless.” He said:

"would be purposeless. He is not able to appear in court. Nobody expects him to live."

Police Chief Frank J. Wills also said:

"There's no doubt he did this horrendous act," said San Marino Mayor Bernie Le Sage. "But certainly we would have liked to have gotten a statement from him about his motive for what is an incomprehensible crime. "There is a bit of poetic justice in [his death], but in terms of satisfying the community needs for answers, we'll never know what happened."

Other details

A University of Southern California professor, Frederick George, who lived across the street, said he had heard a loud “kaboom” and then a series of smaller explosions. The reports included that KTLA-TV reported the victims were identified as Mrs. Morita, the children and the housekeeper, while the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department would not confirm those identities.

An account reported that Morita was engaged in a plot to collect on his family’s new life insurance policy. Another account described it as a scheme to kill his wife, three children and a housekeeper and then collect on a life insurance policy.

Morita’s condition included minimal brain activity, pneumonia, and other complications from his burns.