Suspect May Face Death in 2 Slayings

The suspect in a strange double slaying in Upper Ojai last week could face the death penalty as a result of charges filed in Municipal Court on Tuesday.

Miguel Hugo Garcia, a 43-year-old businessman from La Crescenta, did not respond to the two charges of murder during a brief court hearing.

Instead, he indicated through a public defender that he wanted to contact his family and hire a private attorney to represent him before he enters a plea. His arraignment was postponed to today.

Garcia is the sole suspect in Thursday’s gunshot slaying of 42-year-old Helen Dorothy Giardina and her 83-year-old father, Albert “Jim” Alexander.

An Inglewood resident, Giardina had recently moved into her father’s single-story yellow ranch house to care for him after he was diagnosed with cancer.

Their bodies, with multiple gunshot wounds, were found just inside the front door of Alexander’s home. Deputies found Garcia at the residence with Giardina’s 3-year-old son.

According to authorities, Garcia admitted to the shooting while in custody and indicated that he was the one who called 911 to report the incident. Garcia owns the neighboring property in the hilly horse country east of the Ojai Valley.

The slayings left homicide investigators stumped for a possible motive.

Garcia, who also owns a mattress store in Pasadena, had been described by acquaintances as behaving erratically at times.

One Upper Ojai resident said Garcia had chased a boy through his family’s yard the night before the shootings, throwing rocks at the child.

And according to Los Angeles authorities, Garcia allegedly threatened, assaulted and attempted to escape from sheriff’s deputies who had pulled him over in Malibu for speeding just a week before the double slaying.

On Tuesday, the silver-haired suspect appeared relaxed in the holding area for criminal defendants, stretching as he sat in his loose, blue jail clothes before his scheduled arraignment.

When his case was called, he stood with his hands clasped in front of him until a deputy asked that he put his hands behind his back.

Garcia then whispered briefly with Assistant Public Defender Duane Dammeyer before Dammeyer requested a one-day continuance.

Judge Steven Hintz granted the request and ordered that Garcia be allowed the two phone calls to his family and lawyer.

Although Garcia has been held in lieu of $1-million bail since his arrest Thursday, Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert Calvert requested that no bail be set in the case due to the seriousness of the charges. If convicted of the double slaying, Garcia could face the death penalty.

Hintz agreed to that request.

In addition to the murder charges, Garcia faces allegations that he used two firearms during the killings: a 40-millimeter semiautomatic pistol and a .22-caliber rifle.