The Region - News from Sept. 22, 1987

The work site supervisor of a man who died after a trench collapsed on him must stand trial on a charge of involuntary manslaughter. After a preliminary hearing in Torrance Municipal Court, Jeffrey Alan Gonterman, 34, of Lakewood was ordered to appear Oct. 5 for Superior Court arraignment on a single felony count of involuntary manslaughter and three misdemeanor counts of state Labor Code violations in the death of Gilberto Torres, 30, who was buried alive July 24 when a trench collapsed as he worked on a sewer connection on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Prosecutors allege that Gonterman knew the trench was unstable.