Possible Arsonist Questioned by LA Police

Gene Blevins/Reuters

After dozens of car fires set by a suspected arsonist or arsonists, LA police are questioning a "person of interest" shown in surveillance video released by the department Sunday.  The video, shot Saturday, shows a Caucasian man with a pony tail,wearing a bulky jacket, believed to be between 20 and 30, just outside a parking garage near where one of the fires occurred.

ABC News reported an incendiary device might have been housed in a mini-van parked near the scene of the blaze, and then cordoned off by police.  Captain Jaime Moore, spokesman for the LA Fire Department, said that a total of 55 fires had been started since December 30, 2011.

Police believe that at least one other person is involved in the crimes, which targeted only foreign cars.The fires have focused in the areas of Hollywood and North Hollywood, but moved to surrounding areas early Monday. Captain Moore revealed that 10 of those fires occurred in LA and two in West Hollywood. Moore also said that the fires were staged underneath carports, parking areas or near residences.

Police officials, Sheriff's Department detectives, city and county fire investigators and members of the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives are involved in the search for the culprits.

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Arizona Humane Society Faces Backlash Over Euthanized Cat

 

When Daniel Dockery took his 9-month-old cat Scruffy to an Arizona Humane Society shelter December 8th to treat a cut she suffered from a barbed wire fence, he couldn't pay the $400 cost of treatment.

Dockery, a 49-year-old recovering heroin addict, told the Arizona Republic that the agency refused to accept a credit card payment or wait for a wire transfer from his mother in Michigan because it was against policy.  The organization gave him the choice to sign surrender papers so that Scruffy could be treated and placed in foster care.  Dockery agreed.

Rather than receiving wound care, Scruffy was euthanized hours later, an act which has devastated Dockery.  He raised the cat from birth and believes she helped him stay off drugs over the past year, the longest period he has stayed clean in his adult life.

After Scruffy's story broke last weekend, supporters threatened to pull donations from the center.  Comments on Facebook, e-mails, and voicemails have flooded the organization with complaints, spurring some changes in policy. 

Stacy Pearson, whom the agency hired to handle media inquiries, announced that the Arizona Humane Society has set up an account funded through donations to cover the costs of emergency treatment for animals whose owners need a few days to pay for the service.  It will also accept credit card payments by phone now.

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Holiday Greetings

Ham on Wry belatedly wishes all readers a holiday season filled with fun, family, and friends, no matter what holiday you celebrate and when you celebrate it. I have taken some time off from writing posts to spend time with family members I don't see often and will resume later this week.

I hope that we can enjoy some respite from the violence and economic hardships that have plagued us in 2011 and start counting our many blessings before we welcome in 2012.

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Jon Bon Jovi Fans, Rejoice! He's Alive!

Readers who love Bon Jovi can breathe a huge sigh of relief.  In order to squelch an internet rumor posted on the website Daily News Blog International Monday claiming falsely that he died, Bon Jovi changed his photo on the band's Facebook page. To avoid causing eyestrain for readers, Ham on Wry will include the text on the sheet of paper dated December 19, 2011 that he's holding in the photo above. He wrote, "Heaven looks a lot like New Jersey."  For an extra measure of assurance, he added a comment,  "Rest assured that Jon is alive and well! This photo was just taken."

The truth didn't deter searchers using "Bon Jovi dead" from blasting through Google, Facebook, and Twitter in a quest for details.  Where was Jon Bon Jovi Monday?  He was at a concert in New Jersey. The Star-Ledger revealed that Bon Jovi joked about the rumor on stage, "and even pantomimed taking phone calls from concerned friends checking to see if he was still alive."  Ham on Wry planned to use Mark Twain's comment about his death being greatly exaggerated in the title of today's post, but Bon Jovi beat me to it and mentioned it at last night's concert.

Daily News Blog International evidently copied part of a 2009 story in the Los Angeles Times about Michael Jackson's death when it perpetrated the hoax.  Just in case some readers doubt that Bon Jovi is alive, he's playing a charity concert tonight in his home state, New Jersey.  Check it out!

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Woman Set on Fire Dies in Elevator

Surveillance Tape of Murderer Posing as Exterminator-AP photo

Deloris Gillespie, a 73-year-old resident of an apartment building in Prospect Park, died Saturday after her assailant sprayed her with an accelerant, doused her with the remaining flammable liquid, and set her ablaze using a lighter to ignite a Molotov cocktail. After a brief pause, he tossed it in the elevator and then left her to die.

Dressed in a homespun version of an exterminator's uniform, the man, later identified as Jerome Isaac, confronted Ms. Gillespie when the elevator doors opened on the fifth floor where she lived.  She crouched on the floor in a defensive posture but couldn't fend off her attacker as he systematically carried out his plan. Neighbors reported the elevator fire but didn't realize that Gillespie was burning to death inside.

Jerome Isaac-Robert Mecea/AP photo

Isaac turned himself in Sunday morning at a transit police station and confessed to the attack. Paul J. Browne, the chief spokesman for the New York Police Department, said he admitted only to setting a fire at first, but later confessed to burning Ms. Gillespie. He told police his motive for burning her alive was a purported $2,000 she owed him for some work he had done for her.  He faces charges of first-degree and second-degree murder and arson.

This crime resembles a horror story of the worst kind.  At any point, Isaac could have stopped before throwing the rag burning in a bottle into the elevator.  He didn't.  He chose a tortuous method of murdering her that would cause pain of the worst magnitude.  No amount of money owed warrants that kind of brutal attack, if  Ms. Gillespie, in fact, owed him anything. Building residents described her as a kind woman who was always helping others, including her assailant.

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Kim Jong-il Died on Train Saturday

Reuters Photos--Kim Jong-Un photo by Peter Kujundzic

Earlier today, KCNA, North Korea's state news agency, announced the death of its leader Kim Jong-il Saturday of a heart attack that occurred during a train ride.  Kim reportedly suffered from a variety of serious ailments, including diabetes, stroke and pancreatic cancer.  In 2009, he designated his youngest known son, Kim Jong-Un, his successor, although hints of at least one of his brothers and others challenging that designation could create in-fighting and impede his rise to leadership.

North Korean legend has it that Kim was born February 16, 1942, on Mount Paektu, one of Korea's most cherished sites.  In the state version, his birth was heralded by a pair of rainbows and a brilliant new star.Soviet records, however, indicate he was born in Siberia in 1941 and left for Korea for the first time in 1945. If that information is correct, Kim would have been 70, rather than 69.

Kim officially leaves behind three wives, three sons and three daughters. However, some indications exist that he has fathered many more offspring, who are scattered throughout North Korea.

In response to the news of Kim's death, South Korea placed its military on high alert and called back off-duty  troops as a precaution against any immediate threats from its North Korean neighbors. Adding to the unease, North Korea fired off at least one short-range missile in a test of the system. Unnamed sources in North Korea denied that the test had a direct connection to Kim's death, saying it was probably part of a routine drill instead.

His death leaves many questions for countries in that region and for the rest of the world as well.  The people of North Korea have limited access to communication and know little of the outside world.  The extreme restraints on the population might cause people to panic in the interim before a new leader emerges.  The Chinese government will certainly exert its power in expressing a preference for a collective leadership.

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Soldiers Last Day in Iraq

Pictures tell a story much more succinctly than words.  View the photos below taken during the journey from Iraq to Kuwait.  Labels give credit to the photographers with only a brief caption, so readers can create their own versions of what they see.  Ham on Wry celebrates the end of a war that killed almost 4500 over a period three months shy of nine years.  The DOD estimates 100,000 were wounded.

Soldier Leaving Iraq for Kuwait-Photo Maya Alleruzzo/AP

Last Convoy Leaves Iraq-Maya Alleruzzo /AP

Soldiers Wave to Arriving Troops-Photo Martin Bureau/Agence France-Presse

Kuwait and US Soldier Close Gate After Final Troops Enter-Martin Bureau/Agence France-Presse

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