Serial Killer Burns His 9th Victim Alive

It's 3:30 a.m. in a neighborhood in the. city of Akran. CCTV records a man in a. jumpsuit walking up to a house. Seconds. later, what could only be a nightmare. begins. 911. I got a fire going on avenue. It's fully. engulfed. I think there's people in the. house. It's man. I can feel a beat. The lights are going. out. It's burning quick, man. If. somebody's in there, they're dead, man. As the flames engulf the house, the.

mysterious man [music] disappears into. the night, leaving a trail of blood. behind him. Oh my god, hurry. Hurry, please. Oh Jesus, the whole house is on fire. As authorities were called to. investigate, they had no idea what they. were stepping into. This would only be. the beginning of a series of fatal fires. set by a vicious, cold-blooded killer, and detectives would soon find. themselves racing against the clock as a.

serial arsonist hunts for his next. victims. The night of April 17th, 2016 was. uneventful for 66-year-old Lindell. Lewis. He had just gone through a hip. replacement surgery and was resting at. his home on 719 Fault Street, being. looked after by Gloria Gene Hart, his. girlfriend at the time. However, this. night would be different. This night.

would plunge the once peaceful city of. Akran into sheer terror. In the early. hours of April 18th, close to 3:33 a.m. CCTV footage captured a man walking in. the direction that led directly to. Lindell's house. And moments later, tragedy would strike the house of Lindel. Lewis. Because he was in a hurry to. escape, this first attempt at setting. the house on fire had failed and the. flames died out, prompting the arsonist. to make a return for a second time to.

make sure he finished the job. At around. 3:40 a.m., at approximately 3 [music]. minutes after this second round of. dousing the house with what appears to. be gasoline, a raging fire would swallow. up the entirety of Lindell's house. This. was an early Monday morning and most. people in Lane Worcester neighborhood. were asleep preparing for work. No one. would have been awake to see who this. masked arsonist was. More importantly, whoever this was was well aware of. Lindell's hip surgery as it had made him. wheelchair ridden and unable to move.

This meant that the fire was started. knowing that he would never be able to. escape. And soon enough, 911 calls would. begin pouring in as the fire raged on. 911. This is 7:25 next door. I can feel a. beast. The lights are going out. It's. burning quick, man. If somebody's in. there, they're dead, man. Get up there. real quick. Hey, they're on their way. Presumably, Lindell and his girlfriend. were sleeping in their bedroom on the. upper floor of the house when the fire.

initially began. Since the masked. arsonist ensured that the fire spread. from the ground floor, this meant that. by the time they woke up, because of the. heat and crackling of the fire, they had. no escape. especially because Lindell. was unable to move by himself. Gloria. most likely helped Lindell move from the. bed and the couple retreated to their. bedroom in an attempt to get as far away. as possible. But all this did was delay. the inevitable. As firefighters and EMS. arrived at the scene, the elderly couple.

was heard screaming for help from inside. their bathroom. Even with desperate. [music] attempts to save them, it was. far too late. This gasoline fire was far. too violent and the smoke was far too. thick. Gloria Gene Hart and Lindell. Lewis were pronounced dead by the time. they were discovered. A tragedy like this was unheard of in. Akran. Not only because of the fact that. there was now an arsonist on the loose, but because no one knew who his next. victim would be. Because as it turns.

out, Lindell and Gloria were only two of. his nine victims to come. The hunt for. this masked murderer was on, and soon. enough, detectives had a lead. During. the night this fire occurred, the. suspect had fled in this direction. immediately after his second attempt. This meant that whoever this was lived. in this general vicinity. And. considering this, the very first suspect. would be Stanley Ford. Stanley was a peculiar man. He often.

claimed to be a guardian sent by God and. would spend his days sleeping so he. could stay awake at night to watch over. the neighborhood. Additionally, Stanley. was also Lindell's neighbor, and the two. had spent many years living next to each. other. This is why officers were certain. that Stanley would react with sorrow. when informed of Lindell's death. But. when a call was made telling him of the. tragedy, something was off. I was. calling to follow up with you about the.

fire across the street. You know, because of the tumultuous history that. you and the people in Lindell's house. had, everybody is thinking you, right? No, Tanisha, listen to me once again. I. do not mess with these people up here. I. them them guys tried to get me to come. on engage with them. Them guys was. nasty. They was They had prostitutes in. and out all night. They was dealing with. homosexuality. Them people was just bad. people. I didn't do nothing to them. people. Them people were just mean. I. mean, listen here. When they moved up. here, Tanisha, they stole everything.

that wasn't voted down. Well, Mr. Ford, this is my concern. What's your concern? Is it how to make people believe that it. wasn't you, Tanisha? You either take my word or you. don't. That's all I can tell. Well, we do have another option. What's that? A polygraph. [music]. Suspiciously, not only did Stanley. refuse a polygraph test, but officers. believed his reaction to be endorsing. Lindell's death rather than mourning it. This was likely because of a low in the. two's relationship that stemmed from. their arguments about property. boundaries and maintenance. However, in.

all fairness, this case was not limited. to Lindell alone. In fact, Stanley was. infamous for often disputing with. neighbors when it came to property. boundaries. All things considered, Stanley was only seen as a weird and. obnoxious neighbor rather than someone. [music] who would burn a house down. For. now, at least, he was not the most. prominent suspect. As detectives began. to believe that the one responsible for. this fire may have been someone inside. Lindell's house. The night the fire occurred, Lindell and.

Gloria were not the only ones in the. house. Thomas Huggley and Garrett were. two of Lindell's friends who were going. through tough times due to financial. constraints. [music] Lindell was kind. enough to offer the two of them a place. in the basement of his home. Fortunately, Thomas escaped [music]. before the fire could swallow up the. basement. But Garrett, on the other. hand, just so happened to be somewhere. else that night. By April 22nd, 2016, Akran detectives would call in Garrett. for an interview to find out what really. happened.

First, let me say that I hate having to. put you out there like that. [clears throat]. Like all that was terrible. You guys, that's my first language. But. I was worried because they said you live. down there and I hadn't seen or heard. from you, so I waited. Yeah, I was there. I was there. Uh. earlier that day cuz I was over my. auntie's house did a job for her. Mhm. What's her name? Uh uh [ __ ] Uh Williams. I forgot her. last name.

She works across the street. Okay. Now I ain't trying to, you know, stir your brain cuz the main reason I. where I want to find you, make sure one. you safe and you okay? And if I. I didn't know nothing about it until uh. my sister then called me. Mhm. And Mr. Uli called me. and what what did they say? They said the house burning down, but. they didn't tell me nothing about nobody. got hurt in it. Mhm. And then my best friend.

For detectives, it is definitely odd. that Garrett is taking so long to. remember the finer details, but this is. nothing conclusive as of now. However, they are confident that by poking. deeper, they might be able to find some. clues. Have you heard about anybody who. got to be for him? Oh, uh, no. Not that I know of. Now, what was that thought you just had? Never that I know. Nobody know. That don't seem like the truth. It seem. like you choking on the truth RIGHT NOW. I SAID, "OH, I don't know, man. Cuz I.

didn't know the people he knew.". Not It's obvious you just had a thought. Do you just not want to speak cuz all of. us in here? Or. No, you not want to speak cuz you HAD. THE POLICE. YOU DEFINITELY HAD A THOUGHT RIGHT. THERE. All I know is they supposed to. have a a retraining order in that guy. because the tree, you know, stand. something. That's all I knew. Stanley's name has once again crept into. the conversation. In fact, rumors about. Lindell and Stanley's conflicts had. already spread like wildfire, and he was. on his way to becoming suspect number. one. But for detectives, this could mean.

anything. Stanley would alternatively be. the most suitable for Garrett to pin his. crimes on, a neighbor with a god complex. who had frequent conflicts with Lindell. Furthermore, Garrett has not given any. details about his alibi. All we know is. that during the night of the fire, he. was at his aunt's house and was spending. time with his niece. This is why. detectives would not let up putting. pressure on Garrett. You're the only person that a gave a. scenario and that kind of made me. suspicious. scenario.

of of anything that you might have heard. or thought. You're the only one. But I don't I don't know nothing. I. wasn't there. I would I KNOW YOU WEREN'T THERE. I would have been there in a couple. days. You you you weren't there, but you're. the only one. All right, let's do it this way. The. night of the fire, the night that. happened, I was at my least house. What time did you get there? I don't know what time we got there. Was it light outside or was it dark? I don't know. We're investigated. What.

can I say? We was Who were you with? Me and my niece. And what time did you leave there? The next day, I think. What time did the fire happened? I don't know. Tell me it was 3:00 in the morning. I. don't know. Let me ask you this question. Would you. go to the funeral today? Yes. Yes. You know what time it is? It's probably 10:00. That's what you. say. I'm going to say this. I'm just going to. go on straight with you. But I the the. gut feeling I got. is that you have some names swirling in. your head you just don't want to give.

them cuz you don't want to get. I don't know him. right. I don't know them people socialize with. them people. we need your help we're asking for your. help. I know I understand that I just don't. really know much man. but man. they protected me when I on the football. field. ID you down and they they made it happen. for me. They say.

we hold you down, too. Oh my god, they was good guys. For detectives, this was perplexing. A. suspect that was willing to cry for his. dead friend and housemate, yet had no. solid story for where he was on that. day, created a contradicting situation. No matter what, detectives cannot be. certain that Garrett is the arsonist. So. they would slowly push him towards a. polygraph test, claiming it's the only. way to prove his innocence. Let's see if we can't get sucker but to. come in and schedule a polygraph.

Okay. I'll call you and he got we got a. polygraph here. We're going to bring him. in here and he's going to schedule it. with you. Set up an appointment. Oh my god. This [music]. I'm about to have a [ __ ] dinner. Listen, man. We're trying to help here. We're not. I know I if I can help you out with it. Well, if you need to get some off your. chest and let let us know something that.

you know you will feel a whole lot. better cuz you are our key to the. information ABOUT WHO'S. Y'ALL on me. I was. because you lived in the house for 2. years. Yeah, but I was never there on. this. And you're saying that you don't know or. have heard anything about it? I was not going over the years. The car fire happened in 2013 and you. were in the house. You have no clue of. who may have started. You say nobody gave any names? No. No scenarios, no theories, no.

nothing. It's just not plausible, sir. I mean, that that's that just goes on in. all conversation. Who do you think did. this? I don't know. Even though Garrett just agreed to the. polygraph, just moments later, he would. have second thoughts. Mr. Garrett is our father. He's. You're saying you want to take a. polygraph? Well, take a photography. You just said you would. You said while. we at it, let me take a photograph. I didn't say that.

I said I would if I said I would if I. needed to. [clears throat] It's coming. down to a knee. All right. Yes, sir. Yes, it is. Okay. Go ahead and talk to the sergeant here. He'll explain. I mean, is that something. that you'd be willing to do is take a. polygraph? No. That ain't working. Why are they Why is. that working like that? You follow? Usually, suspects are never legally.

obligated to undergo a polygraph test. Even if they did, these tests are not. presentable in court due to a lack of. accuracy and reliability since results. are affected by several factors like. anxiety and mental and physical health. And with Garrett's insistence that he is. innocent and was not at Lindell's house. often, detectives are stuck with no. other suspects. Their only remaining. choice was Stanley Ford, the. self-proclaimed neighborhood guardian. But at this point, this was more of a. gut feeling for detectives as they could.

not put up a plausible case against him. for an arrest. In their eyes, many. suspects were just as suspicious as. Stanley, if not more. This meant the Ark. and arsonist was still on the loose. [music] and maybe these investigations. had scared him because things seemed to. settle [music] down. For the entirety of. 2016, there were no more fires and most. began to forget about the incident. However, this piece would soon come to. an end. On January 23rd, 2017, someone.

set fire to a vehicle on 723 Russell. Avenue, just a few blocks away from the. first fire. The next two months would be. another wave of silence from the. arsonist until May 15th, 2017, when. close to 3:00 a.m., Lane Worcester. neighborhood was given another rude. awakening. Multiple people are dead. after a house fire in [music] Akran this. morning and at least some were children. The Akran Fire Department says the home. was fully engulfed when they arrived. The heat was so high a staircase [music].

melted away. The exact number of victims. has not been released. A fire on 693 False Avenue had resulted. in the death of seven people. 35-year-old Dennis Huggin and. 38-year-old Angela Bogs, along with. their five children, aged [music]. between 16 months and 14 years. This was. the second major fire after the Lindell. home was burned to a crisp 13 months. prior. The fire had started in trash. cans placed at the front of the house.

and spread [music] quickly through the. porch into the home. However, this was. no accident. According to a forensic. analysis, an accelerant identified as. gasoline was dumped into the cans. The. flames were intense and enveloped the. house within seconds. There was no room. for escape. And just like the first. fire, all seven victims were found. huddled [music] in corners of the home. as they had been trapped by the smoke. and flames. The bodies had [music] been. burned so badly that the only way to.

identify them was through a DNA test. This was a tragedy, but compared to the. first fire, finding the suspect this. time wouldn't be hard, as there were. only two options. The first was Patrick. Bogs, who had a bit of history with. Angela Bogs, the mother of the children. in this fire. Patrick Bogs served 12. years in prison for dowsing Angela and. kerosene [music] and threatening to set. her on fire in 2001. He was a violent. man and had even tried to stab someone, making him a very plausible suspect. But.

even with his past, Patrick was quickly. discarded as cameras provided he had. never left his home in Ohio. More. importantly, an extensive [music]. polygraph test proved that Patrick was. telling the truth about not being. involved in this crime. However, his. role in these murders wouldn't end here, as we'd later find out. For now, the. only remaining suspect was a familiar. face, one that was a common denominator. in both fires, Stanley Ford. And this.

time, officers were prepared to gather a. mountain of evidence against him. They treat me like I'm a suspect, man. I'm not a suspect. The first step was to obtain a search. warrant for Stanley's home, which would. result in a crucial piece of evidence. being found. Worn out tennis shoes that. had been covered in an accelerant. An. accelerant that just so happened to be. gasoline. But the evidence wouldn't end. here. One of the detectives would decide. to have a one-on-one conversation with.

Stanley in his car. And what he says. would be nothing short of disturbing. Sound [ __ ] deal. No, listen. Listen what I'm saying to. you. This is so wrong. Listen what I'm saying. to you. Embarrassing to my neighbor. Listen what. I'm saying. You mentioned some things last night. about there some bad people at the house. or. Well, to to me, I thought they was bad. people. They the stuff they was just. doing immature stuff in the neighborhood. like what. [ __ ] uh kicking the uh vehicles rearview. mirrors busting them out and stuff like. that. Is that a good way to get rid of.

somebody moving out the neighborhood and. get rid of that? No, I would I wouldn't do that. I. wouldn't do it like that. Why would I do. that? I wouldn't do it at all. I ain't. going to set somebody on fire just to to. get them out of the neighborhood. That's that that that ain't that ain't. that ain't godly, man. That ain't. I don't know that. that ain't human nature. Really? Yeah, that's evil. That's pure evil. Man, I'm not evil, man. Yet another instance of Stanley Ford. justifying not only the deaths of the. couple, but of their five innocent. little children, too. Just like in the.

murder of Lindell Lewis, there was a. pattern, a pattern of pure hatred. towards the victims. A pattern so. disgusting that Stanley felt it was his. god-given right to purge [music] anyone. who upset the guardian of the. neighborhood. In this case, Stanley. often accused the family of dealing. drugs, damaging his property, and. engaging in illegal activities, which. only fueled his hatred towards them. Several neighbors had witnessed heated. exchanges between the couple and Stanley. leading up to the fire. Not only that,

but the night of the fire, neighbors. mentioned how they saw Stanley. continuously patrolling the house. This. would be corroborated by CCTV footage. that would not only catch Stanley. walking towards the house right before. the fire, but also running away from it. after. If all of this was not compelling. enough, there would be one last piece of. evidence that would solve the mystery of. the Arkan arsonist. Take a look at this. footage from the 2016 fire of Lindell's. home. Now, matching this with the. footage from the 2017 fire and matching.

both with the footage from when police. spoke with Stanley in the neighborhood, there is one correlation. The way the. suspect walks is exactly the same as. Stanley's stride. Without a doubt, Stanley was the one responsible for the. cold-blooded murders of nine people. Officers were now certain of this and. soon enough Stanley was called in for an. interview to be confronted with his sick. crimes. We want to talk to you. I want you to be.

honest with me. Okay. This is [snorts] not about today. Let's go back to the fire. Okay. I mean, what can you tell us about. the fire? I don't have no knowledge of. that. So, what's the point? You know, sometime I explain to him, you know, I. exercise some Charlie horses, right? Sometimes I walk the street and bang, you know what I mean? Something like. that. But uh I ain't I ain't do that. far, man. In the face of these denials, detectives decide that enough is enough.

No matter what, they need a confession. out of Stanley. And the best way to do. that is to show him all the evidence. that points towards him being the. arsonist. Got you running back to the house. Mhm. That's diamond fire. Okay. We got you. running to the house. You're not asleep. You are. You're on the cameras now. We. got you. You're on the [laughter] camera. We got. you. You're. I.

It's time to come. It's time. It's time. to come, man. Yeah, we know the answers. Okay. Right. But I. ain't running from I running from no. fire. Okay. You walk you you're seen you seen. the fire. Okay. I'm not at the fire. No. No. No. I'm not at no fire. I'm at the. fire. I'm at a fire. Yeah, you're at the fire. We need to hear your side of the story. I'm being honest, man. I [laughter]. didn't do anything. I mean, I can't I. can't get to somebody did that. I don't.

have I got too much to lose, man. We got. all the pieces. We know the answers. This is what we want to know. Is there. some. reasoning or some kind of something that. happened? Somebody piss you over. Somebody do something to maybe maybe why. send a message. I'm not walking there. I WOULD LET. NOBODY walk. back from the house. I didn't do that. Hell yeah. I'm tell.

you. Okay. Got you. Got you. Often a suspect will refute their crimes. even in the presence of concrete. evidence as this would still give them a. fighting chance in court. In this case, Stanley is doing exactly this. And no. matter what detectives say, he won't be. cracking anytime soon. Y'all believe. that I did it. No. We prove that you I. didn't do that. I wouldn't dare to did. that, man. How you want me to explain. your charges to you or you. [clears throat] didn't do it? I'm. serious. I didn't do it. I'm not going.

to meant to that. I didn't do it. If I. did, I meant to it. I didn't do that. Let me explain your charge. Go ahead. Okay. You have seven counts of. aggravated murder. However, this would. be far from the end of Stanley's saga. Because he never admitted to [music]. anything and had a history of being. mentally unstable, there was a chance. that he could get away completely. scot-free in court due to his mental. status being absolved of all his crimes. Hence.