Woman charged with murder in Chicago apartment fire
March 12, 2007 16:26 EDT


CHICAGO (AP) -- A Chicago woman is facing four counts of first-degree murder for allegedly setting ablaze an apartment building near Wrigley Field over the weekend.

Police arrested Mary Smith at a coffee shop Saturday night, after witnesses reported seeing an unkempt woman near the scene of three smaller fires. Smith also faces two counts of arson.

Police describe Smith as having "an odor of smoke" and say she made incriminating statements. They say witnesses identified her from "numerous" lineups.

Prosecutors say her last-known address was a Salvation Army homeless shelter. A shelter employee says the facility doesn't house women, but some people use the address to receive mail.

The fatal fire began when newspapers or other debris were ignited on a stairwell landing between the second and third floors. Officials says it's unclear how Smith may have gained access to the building.

http://www.wlos.com/templ....com.shtml

Well, hopefully if they torch your place they'll do it while you're in Iceland.

Well, hopefully if they torch your place they'll do it while you're in Iceland.

HereToRockYourWorld said:

not with my kitty in it!

of course, he's so fat he could probably just sit on the fire and put it out.

Anx said:

I forgot about kitty. Yeah, never mind then. I hope it gets torched when you're there to save kitty.

HereToRockYourWorld said:

um. thanks?

Anx said:

KIDDING, kidding. Sheesh.

Though it would be fun to see what you'd register for in your post-apartment-fire org "bridal" registery.

HereToRockYourWorld said:

you all would have me living in pee-wee's playhouse with talking chandeliers and tamboraccas hanging off the wall!

HereToRockYourWorld said:

not with my kitty in it!

of course, he's so fat he could probably just sit on the fire and put it out.
[Edited 3/12/07 16:04pm]

tamboraccas

it kind of bothers me that this fire has gotten so much national coverage over the weekend.

i mean, i don't want to sound cynical at the expense of compassion, but if this fire happened on the south side of chicago, i would imagine this story would hardly get a 90 second spot on the local nightly news.

though on another level, it's something that literally happened outside my front door, and passing it is really sobering and surreal at the same time.

i dunno. a tough one to process.

HereToRockYourWorld said:

you all would have me living in pee-wee's playhouse with talking chandeliers and tamboraccas hanging off the wall!

I saw this on the news last night. They said it was some women who they HAD NOT arrested yet. And that she had set a number of recent fires in apartment complexes. I hope they lock that bitch up for good.

Ribbed4UrPleasure said:

i think they have arrested her. at least, she's in custody. from what i understood from the news tonight, she was seen setting other fires in nearby parts of the neighborhood and it sounds like she hasn't denied setting the fire on saturday.