Wierd but true story. PG

"Police: Man Burns Down Home Over No Gifts

FEASTERVILLE, Pa. (AP) -- A man angry that he got no presents for Christmas burned down his parents' house early the next morning, police said.

Steven Murray, 21, was charged with arson and risking a catastrophe in the blaze that broke out early Sunday. No one was injured.

Police said Murray had himself committed to a hospital on Christmas Day, but then signed himself out and walked eight miles home. Later he told police he saw the flames in the distance.

But officers said his jacket smelled of smoke and they found a lighter in his pocket and a gas can near the front door.


"He was irritated that his family gave him no presents for Christmas," Lower Southampton police officer Peter Liese said.

Murray was jailed on $1 million bail. It was not immediately known whether he had a lawyer.

© 2004 The Associated Press"
[Edited 12/29/04 13:20pm]
[Edited 12/29/04 13:20pm]

Further proof of what the holidays are really all about:Presents.

Sounds perfectly reasonable to me.