it's 3:30 a. m. in a neighborhood in the city of akan CCTV records a man in a jumpsuit walking up to a house seconds later what could only be a nightmare begins 911 I got a fire going on full and it's fully engulfed I think there's people in the house it's man it's I can feel a the lights are going out it's G quick man if somebody's in there they're dead man as the Flames engulf the house the mysterious man disappears into the night leaving a trail of blood behind him oh my [Applause] God hurry hurry [Music] please oh Jesus the whole house is on fire as authorities were called to investigate they had no idea what they were stepping into this would only be the beginning of a series of fatal fires set by a vicious coldblooded killer and detectives would soon find themselves racing against the clock as a serial arsonist hunts for his next victims the night of April 17th 2016 was uneventful for 66-year-old Lindell Lewis he had just gone through a hip replacement surgery and was resting at his home on 719 fultz Street being looked after by Gloria Jee Hart his girlfriend at the time however this night would be different this this night would plunge the once peaceful city of akan into sheer Terror in the early hours of April 18th close to 3:33 a.
m. CCTV footage captured a man walking in the direction that led directly to lindell's house and moments later tragedy would strike the house of Lindell Lewis because he was in a hurry to escape this first attempt at setting the house on fire had failed and the Flames died out prompting the arsonist to make a return for a second time to make sure he finished the job at around 3:40 a. m.
at approximately 3 minutes after this second round of dousing the house with what appears to be gasoline a raging fire would swallow up the entirety of lindell's house this was an early Monday morning and most people in Lane Worcester neighborhood were asleep preparing for work no one would have been awake to see who this masked arsonist was more importantly whoever this was was well aware of lindell's hip surgery as it had made him wheelchair ridden and unable to move this meant that the fire was started knowing that he would never be able to escape and soon enough 911 calls would begin pouring in as the fire raged on 911 door I can feel a heat the lights are going out it's bur quick man if somebody's in there they de quick on their way already presumably Lindell and his girlfriend were sleeping in their bedroom on the Upper Floor of the house when the fire initially began since the masked arsonist ensured that the fire spread from the ground floor this meant that by the time they woke up because of the Heat and crackling of the fire they had no Escape especially because Lindell was unable to move by himself Gloria most likely helped Lindell move from the bed and the couple retreated to their bedroom in an attempt to get as far away as possible but all this did was delay the inevitable as firefighters and EMS arrived at the scene the elderly couple Was Heard screaming for help from inside their bathroom even with desperate attempts to save them it was far too late this gasoline fire was far too violent and the smoke was far too thick Gloria Jee Hart and Lindell Lewis were pronounced dead by the time they were discovered a tragedy like this was unheard of in akan not only because of the facts that there was now an arsonist on the loose but because no one knew who his next victim would be because as it turns out Lindell and Gloria were only two of his nine victims to come the hunt for this masked murderer was on and soon enough detectives had a lead during the night this fire occurred the suspect had fled in this direction immediately after his second attempt this meant that whoever this was lived in this General vicinity and considering this the very first suspect would be Stanley Ford ST Stanley was a peculiar man he often claimed to be a guardian sent by God and would spend his days sleeping so he could stay awake at night to watch over the neighborhood additionally Stanley was also lindell's neighbor and the two had spent many years living next to each other this is why officers were certain that Stanley would react with sorrow when informed of lindell's death but when a call was made telling him of the tragedy something was off I was calling to follow up with you about the fire across the street you know because of the tumultuous history that you and the people in lindell's house had everybody is thinking you right no Tanisha listen to me once again I do not mess with these people up here I don't them guys try to get me to come on engage with them them guys was nasty they was they had prostitutes in and out all night they was dealing with homosexuality them people was just bad people I didn't do nothing to them people them people were just mean I mean listen here when they moved up here tanishia they stole everything that wasn't boled down mhm well MrFord this is my concern what's your concern is that how to make people believe that it wasn't you Tanisha you either take my word or you don't that's all I can tell you well we do have another option what's that the polygraph suspiciously not only did Stanley refuse a polygraph test but officers believed his reaction to be endorsing lindell's death rather than mourning it this was likely because of a low in the two's relationship that stemmed from their arguments about property boundary in maintenance however in all fairness this case was not limited to Lindell alone in fact Stanley was Infamous for often disputing with neighbors when it came to property boundaries All Things Considered Stanley was only seen as a weird and obnoxious neighbor rather than someone who would burn a house down for now at least he was not the most prominent suspect as detectives began to believe that the one responsible for this fire may have been someone inside lindell's house the night the fire occurred Lindell and Gloria were not the only ones in the house Thomas hugley and Garrett were two of lindell's friends who were going through tough times due to financial constraints Lindell was kind enough to offer the two of them a place in the basement of his home fortunately Thomas escaped before the fire could swallow up the basement but Garrett on the other hand just so happened to be somewhere else that night by April 22nd 2016 akan detectives would call in Garrett for an interview to find out what happened first let me say that I hate having to put you out there like that like all was ter like what the heck you because that's my first language but I was worried because they said you live down there and I hadn't seen or heard from you so I waited yeah I was there I was there uh earlier that day cuz I was over my auntie I did a job for her what's her name [ __ ] oh my Williams I forgot her her husband she wentross the street okay now I ain't trying to you know stir your brain cuz the main reason I I want to find you make sure one that you safe and you okay and if find I didn't know nothing about it until uh my sister name called me and MrH called me and what what they say they said the house burned down but they didn't tell me nothing about nobody got hurt in there m and then my best friend what you talk about for detectives it is definitely odd that Garrett is taking so long to remember the finer details but this is nothing conclusive as of now however they are confident that by poking deeper they might be able to find some Clues have you heard about anybody who got to be for him oh uh no I know now what was that thought you just had never that I know no but I know right don't I don't seem like the truth it seem like you choking on a trooper I know I don't know man cuz I didn't know the people he knew now I can it's obvious you just had a thought do you just not want to speak cuz all of us in here or no not want to speak you had the police you definitely had a thought right there all I know is they they to have a rined order that guy a street you know stand something that's all I do Stanley's name has once again crept into the conversation in fact rumors about Lindell and Stanley's conflicts had already spread like wildfire and he was on his way to becoming suspect number one but for detectives this could mean anything Stanley would alternatively be the most suitable for Garrett to pin his crimes on a neighbor with a God complex who had frequent conflicts with Lindell furthermore Garrett has not given any details about his Alibi all we know is that during the night of the fire he was at his aunt's house and was spending time with his niece this is why detectives would not let up putting pressure on Garrett you're the only person that a even gave a scenario and that kind of make me suspicious scenario of of anything that you might have heard or thought you the only one but I don't I don't know nothing I wasn't there I been there I know I know you weren't there I wasn't been there in a couple of days or so you you weren't there but you're the only one all right let's do it this way the day of the fire the night that happened I was at my nie house what time did you get there I don't know what time we got there was it light outside or was it dark I don't know we was it K what can I say we was who were you with me and my niece and what time did you leave there the next day I think what time did the fire happened I don't know thas told me it was 3:00 in the morning I don't know let me ask you this question was you going to the funeral today yes yes you know what time it is it's prob be at 10:00 that's what you say I'm going to say this I'm just going to go on straight with you but I the the gut feeling I got is that you have some name swirling in your your head you just don't want to give them cuz you don't want to get I don't know them right I don't know them people socialize with them people we need your help we're asking for your help I know I understand that I just don't really know much man that man they protected me when I was on on the football field i h be tackle and they they made it happen for me they say we get oh my God good guys for detectives this was perplexing a suspect that was willing to cry for his dead friend and housemate yet had no solid story for where he was on that day created a contradicting situation no matter what detectives cannot be certain that Garrett is the arsonist so they would slowly push him towards a polygraph test claiming it's the only way to prove his innocence if we can't get Butler come in and schedule polygraph okay I'll call you SCH we got we got a polygraph here we're going to bring him in here and he's going to schedule with you set up an appointment oh my God this is I'm about to have a [ __ ] dip listen man we're trying to help here we're not I know I if I can help you I I swear to God well if you need to get something off your chest and let let us know something that you know you will feel a whole lot better but you're are key to information about who me what what y putting it on me I was there because you lived in the house for 2 years yeah but I was never there only there you're saying that you don't know or have heard anything about I have not I been the car fire that happened in 2013 and you were near in the house you have no clue of who may have started you said nobody gave any names no no no scenarios no theories no nothing oh God it's just not PL sir I mean that's that just goes on in a normal conversation who do you think did this I don't know part of even though Garrett just agreed to the polygraph just moments later he would have second thoughts saying you want to take a why take a poph you just said you would you you said what we at it let me take a polygraph I didn't say that I I I said I would if I said I would if I needed to what's coming down to a need oh really yes sir yes it is okay go ahead and talk to the sergeant here expl something that you'd be willing to do is take a poph no I change my mind that's why they play that working like that you I didn't mean that I usually suspects are never legally obligated to undergo a polygraph test even if they did these tests are not presentable in court due to a lack of accuracy and reliability since results are affected by several factors like anxiety and mental and physical health and with Garrett's insistence that he is innocent and was not at lindell's house often detectives are stuck with no other suspects their only remaining Choice was Stanley Ford the self-proclaimed neighborhood Guardian but at this point this was more of a gut feeling for detectives as they could not put up a plausible case against him for an arrest and their eyes many suspects were just as suspicious as Stanley if not more this meant the Aran arsonist was still on the loose and maybe these investigations had scared him because things seemed to settle down for the entirety of 2016 there were no more fires and most beg to forget about the incident however this piece would soon come to an end on January 23rd 2017 someone set fire to a vehicle on 723 Russell Avenue just a few blocks away from the first fire the next two months would be another wave of Silence from the arsonist until May 15th 2017 when close to 3:00 a. m.
