Man gets 11 life sentences for causing fatal train crash

A judge in Los Angeles has sentenced a 29-year-old man to life in prison for causing a 2005 commuter train crash that killed 11 people.

The judge said he did not believe the defense claim that Juan Manuel Alvarez 's actions were part of an aborted suicide attempt. He instead, sided with the prosecution's argument that Alvarez intentionally parked his vehicle on the train track's in an attempt to gain attention from his estranged wife, the Los Angeles Times reported.

"I don't believe for a minute you intended to kill yourself or harm yourself in any way," Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge William R. Pounders told Alvarez. "I think you were setting up a scenario so you could go back to your family."

In June, Alvarez was found guilty of 11 counts of first-degree murder and a count of arson.

-- Lance Murray