PASADENA : Man Who Confessed to 3 Killings at Bar to Be Tried

A Pasadena man who confessed to gunning down three bar patrons on Feb. 27 was ordered Wednesday to stand trial on three murder counts.

But prosecutors said that, although the special circumstance of multiple murders exists, no decision has been made about whether they will seek the death penalty for Juan Miramontes, 41.

At a preliminary hearing in Pasadena Municipal Court, Anthony Sabatella, bartender at the R-Place near Pasadena, and three patrons said that Miramontes was sitting by himself when he suddenly stood up and fired a 44 magnum revolver, killing Travis Loller, 54; Paul Walton Joyce, 39, and Johnny Lee Rogers, 26.

Sabatella said the attack appeared to be unprovoked. “There wasn’t a word spoken between either of them” before the shootings, he said. Miramontes told investigators that he felt threatened because the men were talking loudly about him.