THE CASE OF THE SPECULATIVE RUBE GOLDBERG-STYLE LONG DISTANCE HOME ARSON ATTEMPT Meanwhile, in Kerikeri: Gag orders surrounding a set of insurance fraud and blackmail investigations have recently expired, bringing to light details of New Zealand investigators’ suspicions that British expat Chris Robinson may have burned his own house down while out of town in 2013. Investigators of the fire, which destroyed Robinson’s multi-million-dollar home and Mercedes, found burn marks suggesting a flame accelerant, as well as records of a remote login to a home computer on the night of the fire. Traces of the software program used to access the home machine were found on Robinson’s travel laptop, though he deleted the program the morning after the blaze. The investigators eventually presented a proof of concept video in court demonstrating one theoretically possible method of starting a fire remotely: the investigators cued a printer to print, which pulled down a sheet of paper which was taped to a string, pulling a switch that caused a small heating element to set some matches on fire (enough to ignite the accelerant that appeared to have been splashed around the house). The case fell apart because investigators didn’t produce evidence of a sent print command; though the insurance company still won’t pay out for the house, Robinson was acquitted. He did, however, lose an associated court case over an attempt to blackmail the insurance company; during sentencing, the judge took into consideration a previous UK conviction for posing as an Irish priest to solicit-slash-extort donations to a nonexistent charity. [Stuff via The Independent]
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Tag: Arson
Surveillance video from a car lot across the street showed 2 men removing a long object — later identified as a bench — from Late Nite Pie not long before the Midtown pizza joint at 302 Tuam St. went up in flames in the early morning hours of February 8th. 10 minutes later in the video footage, after the bench removers had driven off and as smoke rose from the west side and southwest corner of the building, a man is seen exiting through the front door, hesitating, then driving off in a Chevy Astro van. Police have now charged that man, identified as Raymond Pecher, the restaurant’s former day shift manager, with arson.
- Manager of Midtown pizza restaurant charged with arson [KHOU]
- Raymond Pecher, Late Nite Pie Manager, Accused Of Arson (Read The Criminal Complaint) [Hair Balls]
- Previously on Swamplot: Headlines: Virgin Mary in Garden Oaks; Early Morning Fire at Late Nite Pie, Will Late Nite Pie Rise Again?, Late Night Pie Scheduled To Reopen Monday, The Late Late Night Pie, Latest on the Late Late Night Pie Location
Photo: Candace Garcia
Now that a suspect for at least one of the recent Heights-area arsons is in custody, blogger Fred Eats Houston feels a bit more comfortable sharing his photos of some local burn victims.
There have been 18 “suspicious” fires in the Heights area since mid-August. Here are 2 views of a playhouse on Ashland St., part of one of the first structures to burn:
For months, the giant, burned-out shell of a home has been sitting on an acre lot at the corner of Links Crossing Lane and Augusta Pines Parkway in Spring, less than half a mile from the baby Bermuda grass fairways of the Augusta Pines Golf Course and its 100,000-sf “southern style” clubhouse. But now Harris County Fire Marshal investigators are reporting that the fire that destroyed the 7000-sf McMansion in February was a poorly concealed arson. While owner Michael Macomber was vacationing in the Bahamas, a man named Adnan Aquil filled the home with 25 five-gallon cans of gasoline he had purchased over several days from Wal-Mart and arranged them so they would ignite spectacularly.
According to investigators, Macomber has now confessed that he paid Aquil $10,000 for his handiwork, before filing a $1.2 million insurance claim.
What made Macomber do it? Was he tired of being overextended on an overmortgaged, overpriced, and oversized home in an overmarketed subdivision in Northwest Houston?
“He was holding on to everything,” [Harris County Senior Arson Investigator Dustin] Deutsch said. “His credit score was getting impacted, payments were getting impacted. The county probably didn’t appreciate him bouncing his tax check. . . .”
Of course there’s more to the story:
“After further scrutiny of the closing paperwork, investigators determined that the residence’s value was grossly overvalued by a local real estate appraiser,” Harris County Arson Investigations officials stated in a media address. “It was also learned that Macomber grossly inflated his stated income to the mortgage company. This embellishment included forged financial documents and other misleading credentials.”
In return for paying an inflated price for the Augusta Pines McMansion in March 2006, Macomber allegedly received a $171,000 kickback from the seller. In all, seven people, including a neighbor couple, have been charged in fraud related to this home. According to KHOU, every house on the street has been foreclosed on.
Yes, it’s a short street.
- Seven charged in arson, insurance fraud scheme [Spring Observer]
- Mortgage fraud burns homeowners [KHOU]
- Several charged in alleged fraud and arson scheme [abc13.com]
Photo of 7802 Links Crossing Ln.: KHOU
