Bio 

Leonardo Morita was born in 1949 and lived with his family in San Marino, California. He was 46 years old at the time of the fire. Morita worked as a city electrician at the Hyperion Sewage Treatment Plant in Los Angeles. He and his wife, Lusje “Lucy” Morita, had lived in the United States for years but were reported to have retained Indonesian citizenship. The family was also connected to the Indonesian community in Los Angeles and attended San Marino Community Church.

Morita lived with his wife, their three children, and a live-in housekeeper at a home on Sherwood Road in San Marino. Neighbors described the family as friendly and active in the community. Before the fire, investigators later found that Morita had taken out life insurance policies on his wife and children, including a $500,000 policy on his wife and $20,000 policies on each child, but no similar policy on himself. Authorities later treated this as a key motive in the case.

Murder Story

On the morning of May 29, 1995, an explosion and fire destroyed the Morita family home in San Marino, California. Firefighters arrived shortly after 5:15 a.m. and found Leonardo Morita badly burned outside the house. He told firefighters that children were still inside, but the fire was too intense for rescuers to enter immediately. Five people died in the blaze: Morita’s wife, their three children, and the family’s live-in housekeeper.

Investigators quickly determined that the fire was intentionally set. Authorities found no signs of forced entry and later said the evidence pointed to Morita as the only suspect. Investigators believed he poured gasoline on the staircase to block his sleeping family’s escape. He reportedly used so much gasoline that it leaked into the basement, where it was ignited by the pilot flame of a water heater, causing a major explosion.

Authorities also found fuel cans and plastic buckets at the scene that were linked to Morita’s workplace at the Hyperion Sewage Treatment Plant. His station wagon smelled of gasoline, and investigators said he had the smell of gasoline on his clothes when he was found. Officials also believed he may have tried to make the fire look like a break-in by breaking a kitchen window before the blaze.

The victims were later identified as Morita’s wife, Lucy, 45, their children Rama, Krishna, and Clint, and the family’s 25-year-old housekeeper. Some early reports gave slightly different ages for the children, but all accounts agree that three Morita children and the housekeeper were killed.

Morita survived the initial fire but suffered severe burns and lung damage. He was treated at County-USC Medical Center, but his condition worsened because of pneumonia and other complications. Authorities said they had enough evidence to file five murder charges, but they delayed because he was not medically able to appear in court and was not expected to survive.

Leonardo Morita died from his injuries in early July 1995 after doctors determined that his brain activity had ceased and he was removed from life support. Because he died before formal prosecution, he was never tried or convicted.