Arson Investigators Focus On Ex-Con Landlord In Foreclosure In Recent Fatal Blaze, Previous Fires; Tenant Dies In Attempt To Save Pet

In Gloversville, New York, the Schenectady Daily Gazette reports:

• A December fire on Park Street that killed 39-year-old Debra Morris was deliberately set and Morris’ death is a homicide, Fulton County District Attorney Louise K. Sira said [last] Wednesday. Sira, flanked by numerous local and state investigators at an afternoon news conference, declared the landlord, Jeffrey E. Alnutt, who was residing in the downstairs apartment that night, a person of interest in the investigation. She said the fire started in that apartment and was incendiary in nature. She declined to elaborate on what caused the fire and she urged anyone with information about the fire to contact police or her office.

• Morris and her boyfriend [...] rented the upstairs apartment. When the fire started shortly before midnight Dec. 21 the couple escaped but then Morris returned to rescue a cat, officials said. Her body was found on the second floor and an autopsy determined she died from smoke inhalation.

• Sira said a number of agencies are now involved in the investigation, which will also focus on 2002 and 2004 fires that occurred at apartment houses owned by Alnutt. [...] Records kept on file in the Fulton County Hall of records show Alnutt owns nine properties in the Gloversville-Johnstown area and that a number are targets of foreclosure actions.

For more, see Death in fire called a homicide (Officials say landlord a ‘person of interest’ in fatal December blaze).

See also, Man linked to fatal fire in Gloversville has record (Landlord spent time in prison).

For other stories on fires & foreclosures, go here , go here , and go here. foreclosure arson xerox