Arsonist in LA LODD Denied Bail; Behind Bars for 34 Years

The California Board of Parole Hearings Wednesday recommended that parole be denied for convicted arsonist and murderer Mario Catanio, whose actions killed a city firefighter.

Catanio, 74 of Van Nuys, has been in prison since 1983 after being convicted of setting a blaze 34 years ago that killed Los Angeles City Fire Department fireman Thomas G. Taylor.

The board said that Catanio “poses an unreasonable risk to be released as a free man in society” at this time, said Fire Chief Ralph M. Terrazas, who was among those attending the hearing at California State Prison Solano in Vacaville.

“We are very pleased with the parole panel’s decision,” he said in a phone interview after the ruling.

In a statement to the parole board, Terrazas said, “We do not let the passage of time dim the memory of our fallen firefighter or our commitment to ensuring that justice continues to be served in the wake of such a heinous crime. It takes very little effort to start a fire and, Catanio has shown no remorse, so there is nothing that says he is unwilling or incapable of doing it again.”

Catanio has been recommended for parole at least twice before.

During a 2004 hearing before the state Board of Prison Terms the former barber expressed remorse. But the board ended up overturning an earlier decision recommending parole.

“I did something very foolish, and I’m sorry and I know I’ll never do it again,’’ Catanio testified, according to a transcript of the hearing that was reported by the Daily News at the time. “And like I says, I’m getting on. I’m 64 years old. I’ve done 23 years. I want to go to see my family. I’m sorry. That is all that I can say.’’

Gov. Jerry Brown also rejected a parole recommendation in late 2012.

The department has fought every attempt to release Catanio.

Taylor was killed during the early morning hours of Jan. 28, 1981. He was assigned to Fire Station 60, which responded to the blaze at Cugee’s Coffee Shop at Lankershim Boulevard and Weddington Street.

Four firemen were cutting a hole in the restaurant’s galvanized metal roof when it collapsed, leaving three firefighters clinging for their lives.

Taylor was trying to grasp the hand of fellow firefighter Thomas Shrout, who was on an aerial ladder, but he couldn’t hold on and dropped into the flames and died.

Eight other firefighters were injured.

Taylor, 34 at the time, was an eight-year veteran of the department and left a wife and two sons.

Catanio, 42 at the time, was arrested eight months later.

Catanio was sentenced to 25-years-to-life in prison in 1983 after he was found guilty of murder and taking $2,500 to burn down the restaurant in an insurance fraud scheme.

Investigators also found that restaurant owners Henry Martinez and Arlene Boyle had hired Catanio to set fire to their failing cafe to cash in on their insurance, according to a Daily News story about his last parole hearing in 2012. Both received 10-year terms after pleading guilty to federal arson homicide charges.

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