Homeless man found guilty in slaying of LAX police officer

A homeless man from Venice was convicted today in the killing of a Los Angeles International Airport police officer during a bizarre incident in 2005.

A jury convicted William Sadowski of four counts of homicide and carjacking. A sanity phase in the trial begins this afternoon.

On April 29, 2005, Sadowski allegedly commandeered Officer Thomas Scott's patrol car on Lincoln Boulevard, dragging him along as they struggled for control of the steering wheel. The car hit a fire hydrant, killing Scott.

Sadowski, 51, was convicted of murder as well as three carjacking-related charges. Authorities at the time believed Sadowski may have been plotting to carjack a vehicle, drive it onto the airfield and possibly into an airplane.

According to people who knew him, Sadowski lived out of his car in Venice and frequented a cyber cafe where he checked his e-mail and surfed the Web. They said Sadowski could be long-winded in conversations about politics and other issues but that he was never hostile.

-- Andrew Blankstein

Photo: Authorities investigate the scene of LAX Officer Thomas Scott's death in 2005. Credit: Los Angeles Times

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Comments

[T]

Tommy was a great person. He is not forgotten. Passing LAX always brings about a happy Tommy semory. His smile and kindness still live on in many of our hearts.

[TheBigPicture]

Sanity phrase...are you kidding, who cares if he was sane or not...If they deem him insane, they should give him a helicotper hat to wear into the gas chamber...We waste way too much money on these unemployed, derelict criminals...

We need to pull that table out of the gas chamber and make it standing room only...that way we could empty death row in about 4 days...They should pack that gas chamber like sardines...Then start working on the cons that are serving 20+ years and cons involved in child crimes...

The savings would be a kind of like a stimulus package...

[Astonished]

I guess his lawyer could argue that he was temporarily insane, mainly because no one in their right mind would have done what he did (obviously.) However, proving that he can not tell right from wrong is going to be far harder! As far as I am concerned, being Bi-Polar does not automatically deem you incapable of determining right from wrong. We really need to stop being afraid to exact punishment from people who deserve such.

[Reality]

TheBigPicture: I couldn't agree more. Sane/Insane...doesn't matter. Punishment should fit the crime.