CASE HEADS TO TRIAL IN DEADLY TRAIN CRASH.

Byline: Jason Kandel Staff Writer

A handyman accused of causing the Jan. 26 Metrolink crash that killed 11 passengers and injured nearly 200 others was ordered Thursday to stand trial on murder and arson charges.

Wrapping up a three-day preliminary hearing, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge William R. Pounders determined there is enough evidence to try Juan Manual Alvarez, 26, of Compton on charges stemming from the deadliest U.S. train crash since 1999.

He is scheduled to be arraigned on May 19 on 11 counts of murder, including the special-circumstance allegations of multiple murder, train wrecking and arson. Prosecutors have not yet decided whether to seek the death penalty.

Witnesses testified that Alvarez doused his Jeep Cherokee with gasoline, then abandoned it on the railroad tracks near Glendale, where it triggered a chain-reaction crash involving two Metrolink trains and a rail car.

``The defendant placed a 4,000-pound Molotov cocktail on the train tracks,'' prosecutor Alan Jackson said. ``And he used Passenger Train 100 as the match to light the Molotov cocktail.''

Alvarez's attorney, Eric Chase, maintains his client was despondent over the breakup of his marriage and had planned to kill himself - but not anyone else - when he parked on the tracks.

``The gasoline simply assured that death would be quicker and more painless,'' said Chase, who claimed that his client tried to drive his Jeep off the tracks but got stuck.

But prosecutors say he set out to cause a major catastrophe in order to garner attention and win back the sympathy of his estranged wife.

Jason Kandel, [phone]

jason.kandel(at)dailynews.com