The Deranged Arsonist Who Filmed Their Own Crime • Mystery Files

(switch flicks)

(intense synth music)

- No more lies.

- No more lies.

- Arson is illegal, and I denounce it unequivocally!

- How did that feel?

How did it feel?

How did it feel?

Welcome to "Mystery Files",

where we take a deep dive into cases that span

from the creepy to the truly bizarre,

and everything in between.

I'm Ryan, and today I'll be forcing my colleague, Shane,

to hear all about the alarming "House on Fire Tapes".

And in the end, you'll have to decide

if the mystery is solved, or if it's simply a mystery.

(mysterious synth music)

(slides clicking)

(mysterious synth music continues)

(slides clicking)

(static whooshes)

You seen about this? You heard about this?

- I have never heard of this, no.

- I start with Jay Leno every time with these.

(Shane mock mumbling)

- The House on Fire Tapes.

Have you heard about this? You seen about this?

No? Anyway...

- House on Fire, no.

Going on context clues...

- Yeah, you could gather a couple key things.

Let's actually test that investigator mind

right at the top here.

- House.

- [Ryan] Yeah.

- Fire.

Tapes.

So, there's a house that's on fire, there are tapes.

- You have aced that test.

I'm very proud of you.

- Is it just tapes of a house burning,

and people being like, "Ah!"

- No, no.

- Okay. I don't want to hear that.

I don't enjoy that sort of thing.

But you're not here to show me snuff films

in the basement, are you? - No, no.

No, I'm here to show you something special

from my own collection.

- Okay.

Oh, another one of your stag films?

- That's right.

Hey, why don't we go ahead and pop it in?

(tape clatters)

(static whooshes)

(calming saxophone music)

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Now, back to the show.

Sorry.

This one's for you, Vinny.

(calming saxophone music)

(mysterious synth music)

As Alfonso Lua's car overheated

on the blistering summer day of August 15th, 1989,

he pulled off of Interstate 205 near Stockton, California.

Alfonso and his son, Hector, examined the car,

but had no luck fixing it.

As they trekked down the road to find a house with a phone,

Alfonso and Hector spotted a camo jacket.

Crudely sewn on was a military style patch

of a key crisscrossing a torch and a lightning bolt.

While examining the jacket,

they found multiple cassettes of heavy metal music,

and an unlabeled videotape.

Before moving on, they took the videotape with them.

When they arrived home,

Alfonso and Hector inserted the VHS into their VCR.

Nothing could have prepared them

for the disturbing images they would see

when they pressed play.

Let's take a look.

- [Speaker] Look at it.

Look at it.

Look at the fire.

This is my domain.

My hell.

Look at it, Omar.

(Shane laughs)

This is what I've been doing on your week's vacation.

(Shane laughs) Look at the flares.

(Shane laughs)

Listen to the coyotes yell.

Take a good look at that,

and you tell me that I cannot set fires.

I gotta go now...

But remember me.

(Ryan laughs) (slide clicks)

- Pretty good.

- So this guy obviously sounds pretty gleeful

when he's setting fire to this house.

And I, curious about the psyche of this man,

wanna get a taste of that euphoria that he's feeling.

So maybe we should go outside and test it for ourselves.

Here we are. - Yup.

- You see a little model?

- [Shane] It's really nice.

- Cul-de-sac here. - Yeah.

- And I'm glad to replicate the euphoria

of setting fire to a building,

so I could understand why that guy was talking that way.

Hold on. It's a little windy out here.

(lighter flicks) (whimsical music)

Okay.

(lighter flicks)

I might need that torch.

(whimsical music continues)

(lighter flicks)

Oh, wait! Shane got it!

How did that feel?

How did it feel?

How did it feel?

- Pretty irresponsible.

- Oh!

- This is not good firemanship, you know?

But there it goes.

- [Ryan] The house is on fire!

- [Speaker] Oh, that's...

- [Speaker 2] Too big?

- [Speaker] Should we...

- [Ryan] Should we probably put that out?

- [Shane] Yeah, you should put it out.

(extinguisher whooshes)

Whoa! (Ryan cackles)

- Well, you know, I consider this a smashing success.

(whimsical music)

So, what'd you think, right?

- It was really fun to use a fire extinguisher.

I've never actually done that.

- Anyways, let's move on.

Believing that the demented voice on the tape

had set the fire,

the Luas turned the video over to the authorities.

George Wells, San Joaquin County Arson Investigator,

said that when he first saw the tape, quote,

"I immediately thought that we were dealing

with somebody that was disturbed."

End quote. (bell dings)

No shit. - [Shane] Yes.

- Yeah, that person is not in their right mind.

- I don't know.

I think we're dealing with just a funny guy.

(Ryan scoffs)

He sounds too funny.

- I can play the tape again for you.

- Could we do it one more time?

- All right. You wanna hear it again.

- [Shane] Yeah.

- [Speaker] Look at it.

Look at the fire.

(unnerving music)

This is my domain.

- That's...

- Yeah, let's invite that guy over to Thanksgiving dinner.

That sounds great.

- "This is my domain, my hell."

- [Ryan] Pass the gravy.

- It's very theatrical, you know?

- I think the fact that you think that says a lot.

(dramatic synth music)

The captain of the California Department of Forestry,

Frank Curry, was haunted by the video.

He said, quote,

"I've never run across anything as eerie as this tape.

It frightened me.

As a matter of fact,

I thought about it that night when I went to bed."

End quote.

(Ryan chuckles) - All right, dude.

(Ryan laughs)

Look at this guy.

Look how scared he looks.

- Oh! Were they able to...

Well, maybe we'll get into this.

Were they able to identify where the burn took place?

- Like where this actually happened?

- Where the video was filmed.

- I mean, yeah, that's kind of what the mystery-

- We're getting into that?

- It's Mystery Files.

- I thought the mystery was, "Who is this?"

I wasn't sure if the mystery was-

- Two-pronged, perhaps.

- So we got a two-pronged mystery?

- That's right.

- Oh, boy.

(Ryan mumbles)

What'd you say?

- Nothin'.

Curry watched the tape hundreds of times,

as they attempted to determine the location of the fire.

Few new details emerged on the tape.

The arsonist claimed that the year was 1988.

Commercials on the tape seemed to verify this.

Fire engines came onto the scene,

so they knew the fire had been reported.

But from where?

- Well, so it's a long tape.

We just saw a little bit of it?

- Saw a little bit.

I mean, we saw the abridged.

We didn't see the director's cut.

The low quality of the video made it impossible

to determine which fire department arrived on the scene.

When a county arson investigator went back

to where the tape was found,

they were shocked to find the camo jacket

exactly where it had been left.

As they examined the jacket for evidence,

they discovered a wooden pestle and a ceramic skull.

- [Shane] Cool.

- Complicating their search,

Highway 205 is near several major highways.

It was possible this tape wasn't from Stockton,

or even California.

It could've been from anywhere in the country.

Just because like it was found in Stockton, California,

doesn't mean it was actually in Stockton, California.

This is on a highway, so it could be, you know,

someone from Louisiana or something like that.

- Mhm.

That's up there by the Bay, huh?

- Yeah, that's the Bay.

- Okay, it seems like a nice part of the state.

- It's where the Zodiac killed a bunch of people.

When it became obvious that the fire on the tape

was not one he had investigated,

George Wells distributed the video statewide.

It made its way to Woodside Fire Captain John Dellinges,

in San Mateo County.

Dellinges was part of a task force investigating

a series of arsons about 80 miles west of Stockton in...

Redwood City, California.

- [Shane] Mm!

- Redwood City had once been a small farming town.

But in 1987, that was changing.

Seemingly overnight, a series of large affluent homes

were built throughout town.

Resentment exploded.

11 fires were set to homes that were under construction.

Seven of them burnt to the ground.

Nobody was hurt,

but there were millions of dollars in damages.

In some of the homes,

graffiti littered the wall with the words,

"Please no more houses!"

And neighbors revolt.

You get that? It was like the Riddler.

- No more lies.

- No more lies.

Woodside Fire Captain John Dellinges

believed whoever was setting the fires

was just getting started.

He explained, quote,

"Experienced arsonists, number one, they don't leave clues.

And there were a lot of things left at the scene

that indicated to us that juveniles were involved."

(bell dings) End quote.

Paranoia set in.

Neighbor was accusing neighbor.

We got ourselves a little bit

of a witch trial brewin' here.

- Yeah.

You're really selling this person to me.

And this person's just going around burning down McMansions?

Nobody's living there?

It's just these big, ugly houses?

- You're a demented man. You know that?

- I mean, nobody's getting hurt.

Except for-

- What year were you born? - Developers.

Uh, '86.

- I could see it.

- I could see it too.

If I were around that area in this time,

I might be doin' this.

- All right.

Kind of incriminating thing to say on camera, but-

- Now I wanna be clear, I don't support ars...

Arson is illegal.

That's an illegal thing to do, to set fire to a place.

I'm just saying...

This has already happened, and I think it's funny

that he burned down a bunch of McMansions.

- Why did you deliver that like there was someone

holding a gun on you off camera.

- I'm just saying...

- "Nobody should commit arson!"

- There's nothing we can do about it.

- No one should do that.

- This has already happened,

and unfortunately, I applaud this person.

- Look, man, just admit you're a sicko.

You got a poster of this guy on your wall.

Arson- - [Ryan] You're like...

"I love this guy!"

- Arson is illegal, and I denounce it...

Unequivocally!

Unilaterally!

- Why are you crossing your fingers?

- I applaud this person. I applaud this person.

(Ryan laughs)

- Well, glad we delivered that very confusing PSA.

Let's proceed forth.

A task force of state and local officials was formed

to put an end to the fires.

But they raged on.

In 1988, four more homes were burnt to the ground.

One home was set ablaze with people inside.

- Can't be doin' that.

- Now this is where you hop off the train.

- That's where I hop off the train, if it's the same person.

But also, maybe they just made a mistake.

- Could you just look at the horror

of this inferno through this window.

I don't know if this- - Fires start fast.

I've watched a lot of videos of fires starting.

- Yeah.

- And it would blow your mind, man.

- I saw "Backdraft" when I was a little kid,

and I realized I was never cut out to be a fireman.

- Yeah, it's scary stuff.

- It looks pretty hot.

Though it is kind of cool to have the big suit on.

I went to a fire department once, and I put like-

- When you're a kid, and they're like,

"You gotta put all this on."

And you're like, "What?'

- "Imagine walking upstairs in this!"

And I'm like, "No, thanks.

I'm gonna make YouTube videos."

- "Surrounded by fire!"

- The smell of smoke woke them up

in time to make it out alive.

Dellinges confessed, quote,

"We kept up the patrols

and the nighttime surveillance work,

but we were still unable to find anybody

that was responsible for setting these fires"

End quote.

By 1990, they had no leads.

The task force dwindled to only a handful of people.

The embers went out.

The case went cold.

Until the Stockton Arsonist tape

came into John Dellinges' hands.

Realizing he had recorded all the fires

for investigation and training purposes,

Dellinges set up two TVs side by side,

and reviewed each tape he had against the arsonist's video.

The House on Fire Tape.

Eventually he came across one that fit.

Here's a screenshot of that side by side.

He's like Morgan Freeman setting up all the TVs in "Batman".

- [Shane] Mhm.

- We're just gonna talk about Batman this entire episode.

- "Everything burns!"

- I think this guy fancies himself

to be somewhat of a Batman.

A Robin Hood complex, if you will.

Burning only rich houses.

- [Shane] Yeah.

- The date of the fire was August 15th, 1988.

Exactly a year before the tape had been found.

By comparing a lamppost, power pole, and trailer,

they verified that this was the fire from the video.

When they returned to investigate the scene of the crime,

Dellinges discovered something

that sent chills up his spine.

You ready for this?

- Ice?

- You've been warned.

You got one. You get one for the episode.

- It's the opposite of fire, would send chills up the spine.

- Yeah, I know.

I was just trying to set up a reveal,

because he discovered something that was like,

"Damn, that's creepy!"

You ready for it? 'Cause...

It's creepy, man!

- Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

(dramatic music) - Get this.

- Okay.

- To get his vantage point,

the arsonist must have shot his video from the bushes

nearly 50 feet behind where Dellinges

was taking his own footage.

He recalled, quote,

"To have somebody who was setting fires

and hiding up in the bushes behind me

filming the same fire that I'm filming,

I've never, ever had this happen to me before."

(Shane laughs) End quote.

Well, no shit.

That would be weird if that had happened

to you multiple times.

I don't know why-

- That hasn't happened to most people.

- Yeah.

But the idea that this person is so confident

in their ability to set this fire and remain undetected...

They're literally squatted behind them, 50 yards back,

just taking footage.

- Well, honestly, it's a...

You know, people are gonna be preoccupied,

trying to put the fire out.

Fires are loud. They demand attention.

If there's ever a time where you're probably okay

to hide out and just enjoy your work,

yeah, that's probably it.

- I don't agree with that logic.

That would be like if you murdered somebody-

- That's why you're not an arsonist, brother.

- Well, yeah.

What a shame.

Apparently you are.

- No, but I could be if I wanted to.

- [Ryan] Well, you're making me wonder.

- Clearly it worked.

Clearly it was a great time to film the fire.

- Well, here's also, like,

I'm gonna break out a human emotions 101 for you,

because I do think this is something you struggle with.

When somebody does something bad...

- Yeah.

- The idea is like, "Oh, crap.

I did something bad, I might get caught.

- Yeah, but this is a sicko.

- But the idea that they're so bold,

that they're gonna sit there,

despite the possibility of getting caught,

is still insane to me.

Have you ever ding-dong ditched someone?

- Yes.

- That scans.

(Ryan laughs)

- You never have?

- No! I haven't!

'Cause I was a good boy.

- I think it's funny.

- [Ryan] No- - I mean, I don't now.

I did as a child.

- But did you run away, or did you sit there and watch?

- We ran away to a spot where we could watch them.

That's the whole point.

- Now I'm understanding your psyche.

- [Shane] Yeah.

- 'Cause if I ding-dong ditched somebody,

I would run away and just keep running.

- The whole point of ding-dong ditching,

you're not like, "Ding-dong!"

(doorbell rings) (Ryan laughs)

And then you run away and go,

"I wonder if anyone ever answered the door."

- That's true.

- No, you're supposed to go hide in a bush and be like...

(Shane laughs)

- That is true. That is true.

- You know?

It's a harmless prank.

- Maybe I just don't have the mind of a sicko.

- Now to be clear, I never did that ding-dong ditch thing

where you put a flaming bag of poo poo on the doorstep.

- That does make me feel like you have done that though.

- No, I've just seen "Billy Madison".

- Dellinges called a meeting of the task force.

It was time to get to the bottom of this.

Which, you know what time it is.

It's quirk board time.

Let's get into those theories.

(bouncy synth music)

All right.

Let's get to the bottom of who the hell started that fire.

Theory one, an upset neighbor.

(mellow synth music)

Any reactions to an upset neighbor, just off the top?

- That scans. Neighbors get upset.

- Yeah.

Within some of the burned down houses,

phrases like, "No new houses!"

Were spray painted onto the walls.

This led authorities to believe that a resident

upset by the new construction was behind the arson.

In the late 80s and early 90s,

Redwood City's per capita income was $20,292.

Nearly 10% of the town lived below the poverty line.

But with the tech boom happening in nearby Silicon Valley,

urban sprawl crept into their rural town.

These new homes were upwards of 6,000 square feet,

costing over $700,009 in 1989.

Burning these homes to the ground

resulted in millions of dollars in losses.

The residents of Redwood City began turning on each other.

Dellinges said, quote,

"Everybody was suspicious of everybody,

And everybody was saying...

"I think my neighbor might be doing this."

- Ah. - End quote.

- What is this goofy smile?

- I think it's funny. I love it.

(Ryan and Shane laughing)

I mean, they're all- - He's an anarchist!

- Well...

I just, you know...

You're gonna move into a town

and build a bunch of big, ugly houses.

- That's true. I don't like-

- Also, like Silicon Valley?

What? We're rooting for them?

- [Ryan] No. - Burn all their houses down!

- I just don't wanna root for people

to have their homes burned down.

You know? That's just me.

- I agree to some extent.

- Okay.

While many believed the construction was the motive,

some believed it was an inside job.

Which brings us to the second theory.

Theory two.

A disgruntled construction worker.

(mysterious synth music)

(Ryan moans)

- Ooh!

- On the video, one name is repeated multiple times.

- Omar.

Omar comin'. - You got it.

You nailed it, you fuckin'- - [Shane] Omar comin'!

- My hands are little sweaty from the...

This. - Jesus.

- Well, I'm grippin' this.

- Yeah, you really are.

- I'm really grippin' it.

Officers knew finding Omar was the key

to this investigation.

But who was he?

Captain Curry theorized!

Who's our favorite captain, 'cause he has such a fun name.

- Wait, have we met him?

- He's the guy who was frightened-

- [Shane] Terrified?

- Couldn't go to sleep after watching it 100 times.

- Couldn't kiss his wife.

(Ryan chuckles)

- Captain Curry theorized, quote,

"Is Omar the construction person

that maybe hired this person and fired him,

and made that a revenge motive for the fire?"

End quote. (bell dings)

With the police knowing that the arsonist

had slipped through their fingers,

as he filmed from behind them,

this would explain how the arsonist

was able to do so and easily avoid capture.

He knew the ins and outs of the location

due to working on the buildings!

- Yeah. - Of course.

- Yeah.

- Whether he was an accomplice or a victim,

the police knew they needed to find Omar.

They had a dangerous individual on their hands,

but they feared that even darker forces could be at play.

Theory three, Satan worshipers.

(intense synth music) Ooh!

(board clatters) - [Shane] Yeah, yeah.

- But before we get into that theory,

why don't we jog our memories with this?

- [Speaker] Look at it.

Look at it.

Look at the fire.

This is my domain.

My hell.

Look at it, Omar.

(Speaker chuckles)

This is what I've been doing on your week's vacation.

Look at the flames

Listen to the coyotes yell.

- Yeah. (Ryan howls)

- [Speaker] Take a good look at that,

and you tell me that I cannot set fires.

I gotta go now.

(Ryan and Shane laughing)

But remember me.

- That part's my favorite part.

- You don't think this is an incredibly funny person?

- Oh, I think it's super funny.

- Okay.

- Especially that last part.

- "I gotta go now."

- "I gotta go now." (laughs)

"I gotta go now, my mom's calling me."

From the first moment they watched the tape,

people feared they could be dealing with a Satan worshiper.

This spark of an idea was fanned

when they uncovered the camo jacket,

with a ceramic skull and pestle found nearby.

The patch in the jacket matched no known military emblem,

but was contained inside a burnt orange pentagram.

Investigators claimed the kind of pestle discovered

was used to grind herbs

said to be used in occult ceremonies.

Could the fires be some kind of ritual,