Alhambra man Isaac Campbell was sentenced to the maximum of 11 years in prison for killing his girlfriend Liya "Jessie" Lu, 31, of San Gabriel, and then putting her body in a trash can full of kitty litter in the backyard of Campbell's friend in Arcadia.
Alhambra Superior Court Judge Alice Hill found "sufficient cause" to hold Isaac Campbell, 34, to be tried for the murder of Liya "Jessie" Lu. He will be arraigned May 7.
Arcadia-based Dr. Monique Williams has agreed to plead guilty to the unlawful distribution of the prescription painkiller OxyContin, aka Oxycodone. She admitted to writing prescriptions for people she did not examine and people that did not need it.
Arcadia High School teacher Phillip Sutliff pleads not guilty to charges of sex crimes involving an underaged student. A pretrial hearing will take place May 15.
Arcadia stockbroker Richard Robert Russo was found guilty of first-degree murder for killing his wife Carmen one year ago. He faces 50 years to life in prison with the possibility of parole.
Billy Cottrell, a Cal Tech graduate student who took part in a fire bombing spree that caused millions of dollars in damage to SUV dealerships in the San Gabriel Valley, was sentenced to more than 8 years in prison. See inset for chronology of ecoterror events.
Bowen Du, 19, of Arcadia, has taken a plea deal in the death of Arcadia teen Alice Zhang. He has pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors--vehicular manslaughter with simple negligence and reckless driving causing injury. Du faces a maximum of 18 months in jail when he is sentenced on December 20.
Bowen Du, 20, of Arcadia, was sentenced to 1 year in jail in the crosswalk death of Arcadia teen Alice Zhang. The incident occurred in April as Alice and her friend Priyanka Patel crossed the street at the 600 block of West Duarte Road in Arcadia.
Carlos Martinez and Christian Martinez were found guilty of the 2004 murder of Alberto Castillo, a Texas man, at a Motel 6 in Arcadia. Peter Santisteven, another suspect, is awaiting trial.
David Wei Lin, father of slain teens William Lin and Anthony Lin, testifies emotionally at brother-in-law Deyun Shi's murder trial. Anthony and William were beaten to death by a bolt cutter in their Arcadia home in the 400 block of Fairview Avenue in Arcadia. Deyun Shi is the uncle of the two boys and stands trial for their murders and for injuring his wife Amy Lin with a maul.
Deqiang Song, 26, of Monterey Park, gets life in prison without possibility of parole, for the crime of kidnapping for ransom, and a second sentence of life in prison plus four years, for the attempted murder of his then 21-year-old victim. Song met his victim through a mutual friend and took her to Westfield Santa Anita mall in Arcadia on September 8, 2010. Then he took her to a remote area of desert in San Bernardino County. He strangled the woman and slit her throat. He called her father for ransom. She survived.
Dr. Daniel Healy, 53, of Arcadia, pled guilty to one count of distribution of a controlled substance, the painkiller oxycodone. He faces up to 20 years in prison when he is sentenced December 7.
Ex-Muir High School teacher Brandon Michael Landreth, 30, of Pasadena, will be tried for murdering his his ex-wife's boyfriend Justo Cesar Morales. He pleaded not guilty. Ex-wife Tania Landreth claimed he had confessed to killing Morales
The fate of Isaac Campbell, 36, on trial for the murder of Liya "Jessie" Lu, rests with the jury now, after attorneys on both sides gave their closing arguments yesterday.
A federal apeals court overturned William Cottrell's (aka Billy Cottrell), convictions on two counts of arson for his role in the 2003 torching of several sport utility vehicles (SUV) at San Gabriel Valley car dealers, attacks authorities blamed on a radical environmentalist group. The court ruled that the judge in his trial should have allowed testimony regarding Cottrell's Asperger's Syndrome, a disability that could have affected the jury's decision.
Former Caltech graduate student William "Billy" Cottrell was re-sentenced to serve at least 18 more months in prison for participating in a vandalism spree in the San Gabriel Valley in 2003.
Guilty verdict delivered to Lawrence Joseph Farry, 25, who was convicted of gross vehicular manslaughter, in the death of former Arcadia resident Joan Milazzo in August last year. Farry struck Milazzo with his car in the Del Sur area of North County San Diego. Milazzo grew up in the San Gabriel Valley, graduated from Alverno High School in Sierra Madre and was a member of St. Rita Catholic Parish in Sierra Madre.
In William Cottrell's trial, the jury never got to hear evidence about his Asperger's Syndrome. Judge R. Gary Klausner ruled that Asperger's could not be introduced at trial as a legal defense. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Klausner's ruling was a mistake and tossed out Cottrell's arson convictions, leaving only the conspiracy count. Last week Cottrell was re-sentenced to the original 100-month term for the conspiracy conviction, after prosecutors declined to retry the arson counts. One reason federal officials declined was because they did not want Asperger's Syndrome established as a viable legal defense.