Tag: arson
Woman allegedly kills roommate over texts to ex-fiancé
An Oklahoma woman is accused of killing her roommate after she found text messages with her ex-fiancé, according to officials.
Kristen Elizabeth Jones, 21, allegedly shot her 23-year-old roommate, Miranda Pederson, in the head then covered up the murder by setting their house in Luther on fire, The Oklahoman reported.
Jones’ ex-fiancé, Bryson Harrington, lived at the house with both women, according to the newspaper.
The alleged shooting occurred when Jones discovered Pederson had been exchanging texts with Harrington.
In a phone call monitored by authorities, Jones told Harrington that Pederson first stabbed her in the hand.
Jones then allegedly grabbed a gun and shot Pederson in the back of the head, according to police. She also reportedly admitted to burning down the home to “cover it up because she got scared.”
Hickory Hills Fire Protection District responded to the home around 9:45 a.m. Monday after the fire chief spotted smoke, news station KFOR reported.
“While at the scene, putting out the fire, they discovered a body inside the home,” Oklahoma County Sheriff spokesman Mark Opgrande told KFOR. “They immediately called the sheriff’s office, and we called our homicide investigators to the scene.”
Authorities said they learned Jones fled the state and pulled her over Monday afternoon at a traffic stop in Gainesville, Texas.
She was booked Tuesday into the Oklahoma County jail on suspicion of murder, arson and desecration of a human corpse.
via: https://nypost.com/2018/08/01/woman-allegedly-kills-roommate-over-texts-to-ex-fiance-cops/
Cincinnati woman burns down house trying to kill bedbugs
A woman set her Cincinnati home on fire when she used rubbing alcohol to get rid of her bedbug problem.
The late Friday fire sent three people to the hospital with non-threatening injuries and left another 10 homeless, local Fox affiliate WXIX reported.
The blaze broke out on the first floor, where the alcohol was ignited by either burning incense or a candle, local fire chief Randy Freel told the news channel.
First responders at about midnight found flames gushing out of the first floor.
Fire officials noted it was the second time in as many weeks a fire broke out in Cincinnati by someone trying to kill bedbugs.
The late evening blaze caused $250,000 in damage to the five-unit structure, WXIX reported. The American Red Cross is trying to find new homes for the seven adults and three children.
“It’s like a dream….everything is burnt,” said resident Kamaron Lyshe, who rushed home after someone told him about the fire. “I’ll start fresh. It’s all we can do now.”Freel told the channel Cincinnati residents shouldn’t combat the biting pests on their own.
“Get a professional,” he said.
Less than two weeks ago, an apartment building went ablaze in The Queen City for the same reason.
A 13-year-old boy’s mattress went ablaze when he tried to eradicate a bedbug by setting it on fire.
The flames soon engulfed nearly the entire building, displacing eight people who lived there.
Milwaukee Mother Set 4-Year-Old Son With Autism on Fire, Bound Him With 7 Belts
A Milwaukee woman suspected of killing her 4-year-old son with autism is accused of bounding him with belts and setting him on fire before his death, according to court documents.
Amelia Di Stasio, 23, faces a charge of first-degree intentional homicide in the killing of Antonio Di Stasio, her only child, KTLA sister station WITI in Milwaukee reported Wednesday.
According to a criminal complaint obtained by WITI, Milwaukee firefighters found the child’s lifeless body, with his hands bound behind his back with several belts and a garbage bag over his head, in a bathtub after responding to a report of “smoke” at an apartment on the morning of Sept. 28.
“The majority of his body was burned,” the complaint stated.
It appeared the victim’s body had been set on fire, and an unknown accelerant had been used. Investigators found a bottle of canola cooking oil on the bathroom sink, according to the complaint.
A dead pet guinea pig that had been drowned in its cage was also found next to the tub, the station reported. A smoke detector in the apartment had been placed in water, the complaint indicated.
Police have identified young Antonio as the victim.
An autopsy revealed that the boy’s hands and arms were bound to his sides with seven belts, according to the complaint. A plastic bag had been placed over his head secured with a knot at the back of his head. There was “significant charring” to his skin, and the boy sustained thermal injuries “to the majority of his body,” according to the autopsy.
Authorities ruled Antonio’s death a homicide.
The child lived in the apartment with his mother, who was not home when firefighters and police arrived.
One witness told investigators that the mother and son had moved into the building two months earlier, and that his mother “wasn’t friendly and kept to herself.”
She said she heard the pair arguing the day before the little boy was killed, with Antonio saying “Please, Mommy. Stop! I won’t do it again.” The witness further recalled hearing Di Stasio yell, “Shut up,” the complaint stated.
A “banging noise” could be heard coming from their unit the unit the day of the boy’s death, the witness recalled.
Another witness told investigators she saw a “frazzled”-looking woman jump from the apartment window on Sept. 28, the complaint stated.
Di Stasio was arrested later that day.
Investigators searched her purse and found a note with a woman’s name and phone number written on it, according to WITI. When authorities called it, they spoke a husband and wife who said they saw the woman crying.
When they asked her what was wrong, she asked if they knew a pastor. She told them she “did something really bad,” had “never did nothing like that before” and needed to speak with somebody, according to the station. The man gave her a number.
The complaint also indicated a search of Di Stasio’s cellphone revealed she had looked up “how to kill a canabal (sic)” on Sept. 28, and that she had visited a message board dedicated to an online game billed as a “horror survival game” in which players fight cannibals. The message board “detailed the ways to kill cannibals within the game,” and recommended to “kill it with fire.” It also discussed how, in the game, cannibals “like to bathe in oil.”
If convicted, Di Stasio faces a sentence of life in prison.