Trial Ordered For Man in Deaths of California Tourists

PISMO BEACH, Calif.-- A California man who told police he deliberately drove off a freeway to get attention from his ex-girlfriend will be tried for murder in the deaths of two tourists run down by his car.

Judge Hugh F. Mullin III ruled Wednesday that there was enough evidence to order trial for 20-year-old Jerardo Iriarte on two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence.

The Santa Maria Times says Washington visitors Bruce and Marjorie Mallin were on a morning walk outside a Marie Callender's restaurant in Pismo Beach when Iriarte's Toyota Corolla veered off U.S. Highway 101 at 80 mph, went down an embankment and struck the couple.

Iriarte told a Pismo Beach detective he intentionally drove off the freeway to get attention from his ex-girlfriend, who was working at Marie Callender's.