By Tony Burchyns / Times-Herald
Posted: 08/07/2010 01:02:47 AM PDT
A suspect in the June 30 Vallejo courthouse fire has ties to a 2007 fatal fire at the home of his former girlfriend, which killed her 11-month-old son, a family member said Friday.
However, Benjamin Stickel was not considered a suspect in that fire, which remains under investigation as suspicious, Vallejo Fire Department spokesman Bill Tweedy said.
Stickel, 31, and Octavia Walton, 40, both of Vallejo, were booked Thursday on charges stemming from the early morning courthouse blaze that destroyed hundreds of case records. No one was injured.
Arraignment for Stickel and Walton has been set for Monday afternoon in Fairfield.
Both suspects are in custody at Solano County Jail and were unavailable for comment Friday.
Stickel was in a relationship with the mother of 11-month-old Benjamin Stickel Jr., who was killed Dec. 20, 2007, in a fatal fire at 7 Emerald Circle in Vallejo. The fire also killed the baby's grandfather and grandfather's brother. The baby's grandmother was the only one who made it out alive.
Police questioned the boyfriend of another resident, the baby's aunt, in connection with the fire, but no arrests were made.
The baby's mother, Amanda Dykes, who was not home at the time of the fire, said the doors of the two-story house had been barricaded shut so no one could get out. She also said the fire was set at the bottom of the stairs, while everyone was upstairs at the time.
Attempts Friday to reach Vallejo police investigators
ADVERTISEMENT
handling the Emerald Circle investigation were unsuccessful.
Stickel has a lengthy criminal record and drug history and was already in custody in Solano County Jail before being booked on charges in connection with the courthouse arson. However, he has no known history of arson.
He was arrested July 29 at his Vallejo home on suspicion of vehicle theft and stolen property. Also arrested was a woman with whom he was living and shares two small children.
Likewise, Walton has a criminal past but no history of arson, Solano County Sheriffs Office Sgt. Walt Gilliam said.
A relative of Stickel, who asked to remain anonymous, said someone might have paid Stickel to set the courthouse fire.
"I have a feeling someone paid him to do it, told him 'I need you to go do it,' " the relative said.
Solano County Sheriff's Office investigators would not release a motive Friday.
The courthouse fire was a reminder of an earlier arson attack at the Tuolumne Street building in 1997 by friends of a drug suspect to thwart his prosecution. The suspects were subsequently arrested and convicted.
Contact staff writer Tony Burchyns at tburchyns@timesheraldonline.com or (707) 553-6831.
No comments:
Post a Comment