Arsonist Convicted of 2012 Double Murder in Pasadena

A 54-year-old man was convicted today of starting a deadly fire that killed two men in a Pasadena house five years ago, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced.

Jurors deliberated for less than an hour before finding Garth Allen Robbins guilty of two counts of first-degree murder. They also found the special circumstance allegations of multiple murders and murder in the commission of arson of an inhabited structure to be true. Robbins also was convicted of one count each of arson causing great bodily injury and arson of an inhabited structure.

Deputy District Attorney Rachel Bowers of the Arson and Explosives Section prosecuted the case.

On Nov. 1, 2012, a fire erupted at a three-story house in the 1300 block of El Sereno Avenue in Pasadena. The blaze killed residents Cliff Juan Clark, 56, and Paul Richard Boyd, 75.

Evidence presented at trial showed that Robbins started the fire at about 2 a.m. when 17 others were asleep inside the house. He doused his room with gasoline and set it ablaze.

Robbins faces life in prison without the possibility of parole when he is scheduled to be sentenced June 7 in Department H of the Los Angeles County Superior Court, Pasadena Branch.

Case GA088055 was investigated by the Pasadena Fire and Police Departments.