"Calif. resident accused in ’89 N.H. fatal arson; Ex-neighbor says suspect bragged about starting fire" by Holly Ramer, Associated Press | July 2, 2010
CONCORD, N.H. — A woman who survived a deadly 1989 apartment-house fire in New Hampshire says the California man charged with murder this week in the deaths of four of her neighbors told her that night, “I did a good job, didn’t I?’’
David McLeod made the comment shortly after the fire that killed newlyweds Carl and Lori Hina, their baby, and Hina’s 12-year-old daughter in Keene, Elizabeth Kennedy told the Associated Press yesterday.
McLeod, 53, was arrested Wednesday in West Sacramento, Calif., where he has lived for 15 years. It was the first arrest for the cold case unit created in New Hampshire last year to investigate more than 100 unsolved homicides and suspicious deaths.
Authorities would not say why McLeod, who had once lived in the building and was a suspect at the time, was not arrested until now. According to police affidavits unsealed two weeks after the fire, other residents told police that McLeod had talked about burning down the building earlier that night and bragged about having torched it afterward.
The residents said McLeod might have held grudges against male residents for having relationships with his former girlfriend, who also lived in the eight-unit building....
Well, that is a REAL ROTTEN REASON for ARSON and KILLING PEOPLE even if she was a whore!
The state fire marshal’s office initially concluded that the fire was an accident, saying a woman fell asleep on a couch with a cigarette. Two weeks later, investigators said the fire started with an open flame, but stopped short of calling it arson. A month after the fire, a prosecutor said she expected no arrests would be made.
Translation: THEY DIDN'T WANT TO INVESTIGATEbecause it would be ACTUAL WORK!
Kathleen McGuire, who was then an assistant attorney general, said a grand jury had questioned people about the fire but was not asked to return an indictment.
“We don’t feel the evidence at this time warrants us presenting the case to the grand jury,’’ she said. Prosecutors also said at the time that the credibility of witnesses in the case had not been established.
I no longer believe law enforcement anywhere when they say anything and this is one reason among many why.
Senior Assistant Attorney General William Delker, who oversees the cold case unit, said McLeod left New Hampshire soon after the fire. He is married with children and is on disability.
McLeod was ordered held without bail after an extradition hearing Wednesday. Delker said it could take up to 90 days to have him returned to New Hampshire to face charges.
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