After the deadly fire (Pasadena Star-News)
PASADENA – Four and a half years ago, on November 1, 2012, 56-year-old Cliff Juan Clark and 75-year-old Paul Richard Boyd lost their lives due to smoke inhalation in a fire at their residence at 1385 El Sereno Avenue.
At about 2:00 AM that morning, 54-year-old Garth Allen Robbins, who also lived in the residence with 17 others, poured gasoline in his room and then set it on fire.
After Robbins’ trial, it took a jury less than an hour to convict him of two counts of first-degree murder. He was also convicted of arson causing great bodily injury and arson of an inhabited structure.
Deputy District Attorney Rachel Bowers prosecuted the case. Robbins will find out on June 7 his sentence, which could very well be life in prison without the possibility of parole.
On April 8, 2014 The Pasadena Star News reported that the residence was an illegal boarding house whose owner plead guilty to 23 counts of city code violations and paid over $6,000 in fines.
