We’re on our way out of downtown, after a very brief King County Jail courtroom hearing in the case of 40-year-old John C. Siegel, arrested (as reported here last night) for investigation of arson in connection with the fire yesterday at the Gatewood home for which county records list him as co-owner. Siegel did not appear; lawyers told the judge he was “too sick” to come to court today, so the bail hearing is delayed until tomorrow, but they did need to ask the judge if she found “probable cause” to hold him till then. She reviewed documents containing the police report in the case, and said she did. According to those documents, he was found at the burning home, and told investigators he was asleep and woke up to find the house on fire. (His “last known address” is listed on the police report as Mercer Island.) The report says investigators determined the fire was “intentionally set with a hand-held flame to available combustibles,” started in the northwest corner of the house (shown above in our post-fire photo from last night). More details from the report after the jump:
Siegel’s ex-wife told investigators he was at the house when she left at about 7:30 yesterday morning, three hours before the fire. She said he had told her the night before that, quoting the report, “if she did not come back to him, he did not want to live.” When firefighters arrived, the report says, he was found with an injury to his wrist that he said was self-inflicted. He is reported to have told a police investigator at the hospital that he “woke up to blood all over and the sound of the crackling fire. There was fire and smoke all over. … When (arson investigators) were advised of what Siegel had said, they said it was such a fast-moving fire and with Siegel saying it was crackling and smoke it was a free-burning fire and not a smoldering fire. With that information, if what Siegel had said was true he should be burned.” However, the report says, he did not have any burns on his body; he claimed to have “singed hair,” but none was seen.
ADDED 3:24 PM: In addition to those details from paperwork included with the “probable cause” documents provided to media by the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, we also have a few more from the report on file with SPD. That report says he told one of the first police officers at the scene that he was homeless and that his ex-wife had let him move into the Gatewood home a few weeks ago. As noted in our report last night, he spent two months in jail earlier this year and was released after a plea bargain in a case involving domestic violence against her and threats against a judge.
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EDITOR’S NOTE: 2 issues raised in this story have hotline resources available for anyone dealing with them – the King County Domestic Violence information line, (206) 205-5555; for suicide prevention, the Crisis Clinic hotline, 206.461.3222.
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