David Attias petitions Santa Barbara Superior Court Judge for restoration of sanity
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Today marks the 21st anniversary of a quadruple vehicular homicide in Isla Vista. It happened just after 11:00 p.m. on February 23, 2001.
Coincidentally, David Attias, the man convicted of the crime, is in Santa Barbara Superior Court today petitioning for a new lease on life.
Judge Thomas Adams is presiding over the case.
Attias was 18-years old at the time, attending UC Santa Barbara, when he gunned the engine of his father's car and raced down Sabado Tarde Road at 65-miles-an-hour and plowed into a crowd of students.
Ruth Levy, Elie Isreal, Chris Divis and Nick Bourdakis died at the scene. A fifth person, Albert Levy, Ruth's brother, suffered life threatening injuries. He died in 2016 after suffered a seizure related to his injuries.
Witnesses at the scene heard Attias say he was the “Angel of Death.”
In 2002, Attias was convicted of four counts of second degree murder. The same jury later found him to be insane.
The District Attorney’s office said with those jury decisions, officially, Attias was found to be not guilty by reason of insanity.
After serving a 10 year sentence at Patton State Mental Hospital and eventually being moved to a second and final unlocked community facility, Attias is asking for more freedom.
On Wednesday, his father, Dan Attias, a television director and producer, and David Attias took the stand.
Attias said he finished college online and was living in an unlocked facility in Ventura County where he did some part time work.
To mark the anniversary friends of victims visited a memorial in Isla Vista.
William Collins lost his friend Nick Baurdakis .
"We were both on way to same the party and I made it, he didn't, it was a fact of luck, I had another friend feeling ill and that kept me five minutes behind him," said Collins, "Even though 21 years has passed I don't think justice will ever be served with the loss of five individuals, it was four originally."
Collins is now an attorney and has a tattoo with his friends initials.
He said he hopes Attias will have to do outreach in the future to help prevent something similar from happening again.
Attias will be back on the stand on Thursday.
