Furniture Store Owner Enters Insanity Plea in Ojai Double Slayings

A furniture store owner accused of killing a 42-year-old woman and her elderly father in Upper Ojai late last month pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity Wednesday.

Miguel Hugo Garcia of La Crescenta entered his plea during an arraignment in Ventura County Municipal Court on two murder charges for allegedly killing Helen D. Giardina and her ailing father, Albert “Jim� Alexander, 83, May 22 in Alexander’s ranch home.

Defense attorney James Farley, who was hired by Garcia’s family, said his client was not contesting that he shot Giardina and her father, but that Garcia, 43, was insane at the time.

Giardina’s husband said after the shooting that Garcia was “very charming� and “slick,� but that something still prompted him to keep Garcia at arms length.

Garcia was “a little off,� Tom Giardina said two days after the shooting. “The guy was loony obviously, he could have taken my son out, too. It just scares me to think what [the boy] saw that night.�

Garcia, who owns the 20 acres next to Alexander’s property and socialized with the family, has had a long history of mental illness and was on medication for a bipolar disorder at the time of the shooting, Farley said.

“He was under the care of a psychiatrist and on psychotropic medication,� he said.

Psychotropic medications include mind-altering drugs, hallucinogens and tranquilizers.

“I’m not sure if it was a bad mix of medication or that he wasn’t taking the medication properly or exactly what, but he was insane at the time of the shooting, yes,� Farley said.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 27.

“I have no doubt he will then be held over for trial,� Farley said.

Prosecutors still have not suggested a motive for the slayings.

Sheriff’s deputies who first responded to the 4:30 a.m. emergency call from Garcia said he told them: “I shot them both behind the right ear and several shots to the chest,� according to a six-page affidavit by Ventura County Sheriff’s Det. John Fitzgerald.

There is a special circumstances charge because two weapons were used in the homicide--a 40-millimeter semiautomatic pistol and a .22-caliber rifle with a scope. Garcia could receive the death penalty if he is convicted.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Bob Calvert said he had expected Garcia to make an insanity plea.

“I can say the insanity plea came as no surprise,� Calvert said after the brief arraignment.

According to acquaintances of Garcia, his business rivals and Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies, Garcia had displayed a long history of erratic and sometimes bizarre behavior prior to the shooting.

Just a week before the incident, Garcia allegedly threatened, assaulted and tried to escape from Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies during a traffic stop in Malibu.

Deputies described Garcia’s behavior as bizarre and irrational.

“You are gonna die, you are gonna kill yourself with that gun,� Garcia yelled at deputies, according to an arrest report. “I know you. I’ve got friends, man. I’m gonna nail you through the wall.�

People who knew him in Upper Ojai and in Pasadena, where he operated a mattress and furniture store, described Garcia as a friendly man who sometimes displayed threatening behavior, especially when he was drinking.

Inside Garcia’s 1996 Porsche parked outside the house, police found ammunition, eight full bottles of wine, a blood-stained box and a Bible with $9 inside, according to the search warrant filed with the court. On a picnic table outside the home were two take-out dinners with two wine glasses. Inside the home’s small living room was a half-smoked cigar and a rose placed on one the beds with a note that said “Love� and “H.�

An Inglewood resident, Helen Giardina had recently moved to Upper Ojai with her 3-year-old son to care for her father, who was sick with cancer. Her husband visited his family on weekends.

When the deputies arrived they found Garcia, standing in a gravel driveway next to Giardina’s son, who as unhurt.