In his pockets were 35 cents and a lighter.
December 17, 2020 5:22 PM Subscribe
Arresting a serial arsonist.
(There are a few specific statements in the article that I can't endorse. But, it's interesting.)
(There are a few specific statements in the article that I can't endorse. But, it's interesting.)
Fire-starting is so potentially damaging, and so often compulsive, that the state Department of Justice maintains a special registry of about 4,000 arsonists. Upon release from prison, arsonists, like sex offenders, must notify law enforcement where they plan to live. They are required to check in every year for the rest of their lives.
I did not know that.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 6:27 PM on December 17, 2020 [15 favorites]
I did not know that.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 6:27 PM on December 17, 2020 [15 favorites]
Weirdly, it’s easier for me to understand being a serial killer than I can being a serial arsonist. I’m not sure how I feel about that...
posted by Thorzdad at 7:25 PM on December 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by Thorzdad at 7:25 PM on December 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
Sorry. Didn't know about the paywall. I haven't subscribed in a long time and haven't seen a paywall on two devices.
posted by eotvos at 9:29 PM on December 17, 2020
posted by eotvos at 9:29 PM on December 17, 2020
No worries, it wasn't paywalled for me, either.
posted by aniola at 10:51 PM on December 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by aniola at 10:51 PM on December 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
12 years for a serial arsonist? I’m not a law and order, lock ‘em up and throw away the key type of person but that sentence is way too short. When he come out he’ll likely return to starting fires.
posted by rdr at 12:20 AM on December 18, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by rdr at 12:20 AM on December 18, 2020 [2 favorites]
Weirdly, it’s easier for me to understand being a serial killer than I can being a serial arsonist. I’m not sure how I feel about that...
While the theory has been challenged, arson, bed-wetting and cruelty to animals are considered as a trifecta of behavioural commonalities with serial killers so there's a through line there somewhere: The Macdonald Triad.
posted by slimepuppy at 12:49 AM on December 18, 2020 [2 favorites]
While the theory has been challenged, arson, bed-wetting and cruelty to animals are considered as a trifecta of behavioural commonalities with serial killers so there's a through line there somewhere: The Macdonald Triad.
posted by slimepuppy at 12:49 AM on December 18, 2020 [2 favorites]
archive.today provides acccess to paywalled content.
Thusly.
posted by PareidoliaticBoy at 12:49 AM on December 18, 2020 [1 favorite]
Thusly.
posted by PareidoliaticBoy at 12:49 AM on December 18, 2020 [1 favorite]
Oh, they caught that Auntie Fa guy?
posted by Ghostride The Whip at 2:37 AM on December 18, 2020
posted by Ghostride The Whip at 2:37 AM on December 18, 2020
I agree rdr, should be charged as if all the people he killed were people he killed.
posted by GoblinHoney at 9:27 AM on December 18, 2020
posted by GoblinHoney at 9:27 AM on December 18, 2020
I agree rdr, should be charged as if all the people he killed were people he killed.
Did anybody die from the fires he started? Directly, I mean, indirectly is very possible but hard to figure.
Obviously he caused a lot of damage and easily could have killed people.
posted by atoxyl at 9:37 AM on December 18, 2020
Did anybody die from the fires he started? Directly, I mean, indirectly is very possible but hard to figure.
Obviously he caused a lot of damage and easily could have killed people.
posted by atoxyl at 9:37 AM on December 18, 2020
Anyway, firefighter/wannabe-firefighter arson is one of those things that feels like a lazy trope but is apparently quite real.
posted by atoxyl at 9:52 AM on December 18, 2020
posted by atoxyl at 9:52 AM on December 18, 2020
Did anybody die from the fires he started? Directly, I mean, indirectly is very possible but hard to figure.
Ah, I misattributed some fire deaths not linked to arson to him and what on re-read appears to just be a cancer death, my mistake! In any case, my anger at this person has simmered and I now wish them to receive however long a sentence it takes to reform them in a fantasy prison system where this is even remotely the goal.
posted by GoblinHoney at 10:05 AM on December 18, 2020
Ah, I misattributed some fire deaths not linked to arson to him and what on re-read appears to just be a cancer death, my mistake! In any case, my anger at this person has simmered and I now wish them to receive however long a sentence it takes to reform them in a fantasy prison system where this is even remotely the goal.
posted by GoblinHoney at 10:05 AM on December 18, 2020
If you want to get mad at him again I looked up some other stories and he apparently used to have SS runes as a Facebook photo.
(honestly I think there are still people who use that sort of thing as an “I’m a scary badass” symbol rather than something they are ideologically committed to, though - especially general fuck-ups like this guy)
posted by atoxyl at 10:26 AM on December 18, 2020 [1 favorite]
(honestly I think there are still people who use that sort of thing as an “I’m a scary badass” symbol rather than something they are ideologically committed to, though - especially general fuck-ups like this guy)
posted by atoxyl at 10:26 AM on December 18, 2020 [1 favorite]
It’s one of those situations where part of me wants to figure out what’s going on inside this guy’s head and then another part of me thinks - okay, honestly, he probably doesn’t know himself.
posted by atoxyl at 10:28 AM on December 18, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by atoxyl at 10:28 AM on December 18, 2020 [3 favorites]
Here’s a piece that does interview a smaller-scale (or at least less successful) former arsonist. Sexual trauma and involvement in fire service are again plot points (though this guy actually got to live the “start a fire and respond to it” fantasy which it seems Pashilk did not).
posted by atoxyl at 10:43 AM on December 18, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by atoxyl at 10:43 AM on December 18, 2020 [1 favorite]
It's funny, I just had a long talk yesterday with one of the country's most experienced arson investigators. Our conversation was all over the place, but he said a few interesting things. (Take at face value, of course.)
1. Even as investigation techniques improve, it's gotten harder to secure convictions in part because of the Innocence Project's work to call past arson investigations into question.
2. Almost all serial arsonists are eventually caught.
3. One was a firefighter's mother who was trying to make sure he had steady work.
posted by gottabefunky at 11:30 AM on December 18, 2020 [1 favorite]
1. Even as investigation techniques improve, it's gotten harder to secure convictions in part because of the Innocence Project's work to call past arson investigations into question.
2. Almost all serial arsonists are eventually caught.
3. One was a firefighter's mother who was trying to make sure he had steady work.
posted by gottabefunky at 11:30 AM on December 18, 2020 [1 favorite]
3. One was a firefighter's mother who was trying to make sure he had steady work.
Are firefighters paid on a commission basis wherever this took place? What on earth?
posted by Dysk at 10:54 PM on December 18, 2020 [1 favorite]
Are firefighters paid on a commission basis wherever this took place? What on earth?
posted by Dysk at 10:54 PM on December 18, 2020 [1 favorite]
They were hired as needed so the more fires you have the more work they have.
posted by rdr at 6:23 AM on December 19, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by rdr at 6:23 AM on December 19, 2020 [1 favorite]
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posted by Umami Dearest at 6:15 PM on December 17, 2020