Thursday, March 15, 2012

David Williams; Missouri; Two years after charged with arson in fatal fire as result of "trained dog," blaze no longer ruled arson. News-Leader.


STORY: "Officials revise cause of 2010 fire that killed three children: Blaze no longer ruled arson; accident a possibility," by reporter Jess Rollins, published in Springfield News-Leader on March 15, 2012.

GIST: "Shortly after the fatal fire March 15, 2010, fire officials concluded that an accelerant was intentionally used to start the blaze. By the next day, David Williams, the fiancĂ© of the children’s mother, was arrested and later charged with arson. Prosecutors pointed to a trained dog's indication that accelerant was found in the home and on Williams' jeans. But lab tests couldn't find accelerant on any of the samples from the home or from the jeans. Charges against Williams were dropped 37 days after they were filed, but arson remained as the official cause until the April decision to leave open the possibility of an electrical accident. After receiving new information, Fire Chief David Hall said investigators re-evaluated the cause of the fire on Olive Street and have concluded that the cause cannot be determined. Hall said the status was changed in April 2011 after the fire department received a report from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives which could not rule out a television as a potential cause of an accidental electrical fire."

THE ENTIRE ARTICLE CAN BE FOUND AT:

http://www.news-leader.com/article/20120315/NEWS01/303150044/Olive-Street-fire-Devin-Watson-Kelsey-Watson-Alexis-Watson-arson?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:

I am monitoring this case. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments.

The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:

http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html

Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.