Dec. 19--Nearly 32 years ago, Los Angeles firefighter Thomas Taylor grasped another firefighter's outstretched hand before plunging into a restaurant inferno.
Now the man who set that North Hollywood arson fire, Mario Catanio, has been denied parole at the behest of Gov. Jerry Brown.
"Mr. Catanio's crime was senseless," Brown said in a decision Friday to override a Board of Parole Hearings recommendation for release. "He set fire to a restaurant without giving any consideration to the risks the conflagration would pose to firefighters and the public."
It was at 3:30 a.m. Jan. 28, 1981, when Fire Station 60 was called to fight a hellish blaze at Cugee's Coffee Shop at Lankershim Boulevard and Weddington Street.
Four firefighters were sawing a hole in its galvanized metal roof when it collapsed, leaving three firefighters clinging for their lives.
Apparatus Operator Thomas G. Taylor, while trying to grasp the hand of fellow firefighter Thomas Shrout perched on an aerial ladder, dropped into the flames and died.
Eight other firefighters were injured.
Taylor, 34, an eight-year veteran of the department, left a wife and two sons, Erik, 12, and Jason, 10.
Catanio, then a 42-year-old barber in Van Nuys, was arrested eight months later. He was sentenced in 1983 to 25 years to life in prison for murder and federal mail fraud. He's been eligible for parole since 1997.
Restaurant owners Henry Martinez and Arlene
Boyle had paid him $2,500 to torch their failing cafe to cash in on their insurance policy. Both received 10-year terms after pleading guilty to federal arson homicide charges.
On Tuesday, firefighters across Los Angeles hailed the governor's decision to keep Catanio behind bars at Chuckawalla Valley State Prison, in Blythe.
To this day, firefighters at Station 60 retain memorials to Taylor.
"While arsonist Catanio is now 71, he is still a danger to society today," said Capt. Frank Lima, president of United Firefighters of Los Angeles City, Local 112, in a statement.
Brown, in his parole release review, acknowledged Catanio was a model prisoner who earned two associate's degrees, participates in 12-step groups, victim awareness classes and retreats and plays music at Mass.
During a 2004 parole hearing, Catanio said he felt ready to rejoin society. "I did something very foolish," he said. "And I'm sorry and I know I'll never do it again."
A prison psychologist has concluded, however, that the arsonist showed a lack of remorse, the governor said.
"I commend Mr. Catanio for taking these positive steps," Brown said. "But they are outweighed by negative factors that demonstrate he remains unsuitable for parole."
Because of a 2008 state Supreme Court decision making it easier for felons to win parole over the governor's objection, Catanio will be eligible for parole next year.
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Copyright 2012 - Daily News, Los Angeles
