Fire. It warms our homes, cooks our food, and lights up the darkest nights. For centuries, humans have harnessed its power. But what happens when this essential tool falls into the wrong hands? What if the person wielding fire as a weapon is someone you’d least expect? We often picture arsonists in a certain way—typically young, socially isolated males. However, reality can be far more surprising, and far more chilling. Prepare to explore stories that shatter stereotypes and delve into the minds of 10 individuals who became some of history’s most unexpected and deadly arsonists.
10 Julio Gonzalez
Julio Gonzalez, a 35-year-old Cuban man, committed a horrific act of arson at the Happy Land Social Club in the Bronx, New York. This illegal club, already flagged for numerous code violations and facing an order to close, was a known fire hazard. Despite this, it remained a popular local spot.
On March 25, 1990, Gonzalez, recently unemployed and intoxicated, sought out his ex-girlfriend who worked at the club. After a heated argument where she refused to leave with him, a bouncer ejected Gonzalez. Fueled by rage, he went to a nearby gas station, purchased a dollar’s worth of gasoline, and returned. He doused the club’s only staircase with the fuel and ignited it before calmly walking home and going to sleep. The fire resulted in the deaths of 87 people, mostly from smoke inhalation or being trampled in the desperate escape attempt. His ex-girlfriend was one of the few survivors. Gonzalez was convicted on 174 counts and sentenced to 25 years to life. He died in prison in 2016. At the time, this was considered the worst mass murder in U.S. history.
9 Terry Barton
Terry Barton, a forest service worker and fire spotter in her late thirties, reported a fire in a campground northwest of Lake George on July 18, 2002. This blaze grew into the Hayman Fire, which became the largest wildfire in Colorado’s history at that time. It scorched 138,000 acres and destroyed 113 homes. Nearly 5,000 people were forced to evacuate, and one person tragically died from complications related to smoke inhalation.
Initially, investigators thought an unattended bonfire might be the cause, especially given the hot weather. However, evidence, including matches left at the scene, soon pointed to arson. Shockingly, a week later, Barton confessed to starting the fire. Investigators believe her motive was to gain attention, but the fire quickly spiraled out of her control. Barton was sentenced to six years in federal prison, with an additional 12 years from the state to run concurrently. She remains on probation and faces tens of millions of dollars in restitution for the immense damage she caused.
8 Paul Keller
Paul Keller, a serial arsonist from Washington state, embarked on one of America’s longest arson sprees. Over six months in late 1992 and early 1993, Keller set an astounding 76 fires, causing over $30 million in property damage. Notably, some of his targets were Lutheran churches, which was significant as he was raised in a devout Lutheran family. He had a distinct method, always igniting fires on the exterior of buildings without using an accelerant.
His rampage turned deadly on September 22, 1992, when a fire he set at a Seattle retirement home killed three elderly residents. Investigators eventually developed a profile and a composite sketch of the arsonist. In a surprising turn, Keller’s own father recognized the profile and contacted the police, providing crucial details about his 27-year-old son, who worked for the family advertising business and was going through a divorce. Keller was arrested and ultimately confessed to 76 of the 107 fires he was convicted of setting. He received a 99-year prison sentence and will not be eligible for parole until 2079.
7 Johanna Lopez
In 2017, authorities announced arrests in a cold case: the 1993 arson of a Los Angeles apartment complex. Johanna Lopez was paying members of the 18th Street gang for the right to sell drugs in Westlake. An argument with her apartment manager over this drug distribution escalated dramatically. Lopez then recruited two gang members to confront the manager.
Later, as the manager was moving furniture, a mattress in the hallway was suddenly set ablaze. The fire rapidly spread through the complex, engulfing the second floor. The inferno claimed the lives of three women and seven children. Over a hundred residents were displaced, and 40 people sustained injuries. For years, witnesses were too scared to speak out against the gang, hindering the investigation. However, as time passed, some witnesses found the courage to testify. Lopez, who was arrested in 2011 on an unrelated charge, was re-arrested for this crime. In early 2020, she pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter and was sentenced to 22 years in prison for her role in one of LA’s most devastating fires.
6 Thomas Sweatt
Thomas Sweatt, a restaurant manager, became known as Washington D.C.’s most prolific serial arsonist. His fire-setting spree spanned nearly three decades, though a notable increase occurred in 2003 and 2004. One chilling incident from 1989 illustrates his bizarre motives. Walking home from work, Sweatt saw a man he found attractive and followed him home. Later, wanting to see the man again, Sweatt filled a soda bottle with gasoline, returned to the man’s home, and set it on fire, watching from his car. He claimed he thought arson was a better way to encounter the man than simply speaking to him.
Tragically, the man’s wife died in the fire, and the man himself succumbed to his injuries a few days later. This fire was initially classified as an accident until Sweatt confessed after his arrest for other arsons. He managed to evade capture for hundreds of fires. A breakthrough in a two-year investigation finally led to Sweatt, then 50. He confessed to an additional 300 fires beyond those he was initially suspected of. In total, his actions caused four deaths and massive property damage. He pleaded guilty to setting 45 fires and received a sentence of life imprisonment without parole.
5 Peter J Leonard
On June 30, 1974, Peter Leonard, a 22-year-old small-time thief, committed a petty burglary at a bowling alley. This bowling alley was situated next to Gulliver’s, a popular nightclub and restaurant in Port Chester, New York. In an attempt to cover his tracks, Leonard set fire to cigarette machines inside the bowling alley he had just robbed and then fled the scene.
The fire quickly grew and spread to the adjacent Gulliver’s nightclub, which was packed with young people enjoying a concert by the band The Creation. (One of its members, drummer Eric Carr, would later join the legendary rock band Kiss and survived the fire, though several bandmates did not.) Firefighters battled the blaze for hours. Many victims were trapped and died in the staircase area, unable to escape the rapidly spreading flames and smoke. The fire ultimately killed 24 people and injured 19 patrons and 13 firefighters. Two weeks later, Leonard, a 10th-grade dropout, was arrested. While awaiting trial, he even set his jail cell mattress on fire. He eventually pleaded guilty to burglary, arson, and felony murder in 1975 and was sentenced to 15 years in prison after several court cases and appeals.
4 John “Pillow Pyro” Orr
John Orr presents one of the most shocking cases of an arsonist hiding in plain sight. He was a former fire captain and arson investigator in California who was secretly a prolific and deadly arsonist. Dubbed the “Pillow Pyro,” Orr frequently targeted linen shops or the linen sections of stores, using a signature incendiary timing device: a cigarette with a rubber band around its end wedged into a matchbook. He deliberately set fires in populated stores.
Orr had initially aspired to be a police officer but failed the entrance exam, opting instead for a career as a firefighter. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Los Angeles was plagued by a series of suspicious fires causing millions in damages. A 1984 fire at a Home Center Hardware store, which killed four people including two children, was initially deemed electrical. Orr himself was one of the investigators on that case. Through a complex series of events involving a partial fingerprint, a conference of fire experts, and an unpublished novel Orr had written about an arsonist firefighter, he was eventually identified as the culprit. In 1992, Orr was convicted of three counts of arson. Later, he faced murder charges in California and, in 1998, was found guilty of four counts of murder. He received four consecutive life sentences plus 21 years for arson and remains incarcerated. Surprisingly, firefighters, though rarely, do sometimes commit arson.
3 Cameron Todd Willingham
The case of Cameron Todd Willingham is one of the most controversial arson cases in U.S. history, with passionate debate continuing to this day. Willingham, a young married father, was convicted of murdering his three young daughters by setting fire to their family home on December 23, 1991. His wife was out Christmas shopping at the time, and the children were asleep. Willingham escaped the blaze with only minor injuries.
Fire investigators at the time believed the fire was intentionally set, possibly with an accelerant. During his trial, opinions diverged sharply. Prosecutors argued Willingham started the fire to conceal child abuse, pointing to a history of domestic violence, although there was no record of him abusing his children. Much of the physical evidence used against him was later challenged or reinterpreted by modern arson science. A key piece of testimony came from a cellmate who claimed Willingham confessed to starting the fire to cover up abuse initiated by the children’s mother. This cellmate later recanted, saying he was coerced. Despite maintaining his innocence, Willingham was sentenced to death and was executed by the state of Texas on February 17, 2004. The case continues to fuel discussions about the reliability of arson investigation techniques and the death penalty.
2 Shirley Winters
Shirley Winters’ story is both bizarre and deeply disturbing. Considered a dangerous pyromaniac, she was also a convicted serial killer. At 18, she married Robert Winters Jr. Just two years into their marriage, their two children died in a house fire. Shirley claimed she was watching TV at the time, while her husband was at work.
The day before her own children’s deaths, three other children, belonging to a friend of Shirley’s, perished in a separate house fire 50 miles away. After these tragedies, Shirley and her husband separated. Then, on November 21, 1980, her youngest child, a five-month-old infant, died mysteriously in a trailer. Years later, in 1989, she faced trial for another arson but was acquitted after a hung jury in the first trial. Shockingly, she went on to set eight more fires and had another son and daughter. In 2007, a grand jury indicted her for the 1980 murder of her infant son. Six months later, she was indicted for the 2006 drowning murder of her two-year-old. She pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in her infant son’s death and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. This plea deal effectively ended further investigations into the 1979 deaths of her two oldest children and her friend’s three children.
1 Kyle Alwood
Perhaps the most unsettling case on this list involves Kyle Alwood, who was only eight years old when he started a house fire in April 2019 that tragically killed five of his relatives. The victims included his half-siblings, two-year-old Daemeon Wall and one-year-old Ariel Wall, his stepfather Jason Wall (34), his grandmother Kathryn Murphy (69), and his two-year-old cousin Rose Alwood. Kyle and his mother were the only survivors in the house.
Following the fire, Kyle’s mother stated that her son had multiple mental health diagnoses, including schizophrenia, ADHD, and bipolar disorder, and claimed he set the fire accidentally. However, prosecutors believed the fire was deliberately set. Due to his extremely young age, Kyle could not be held in custody and was placed with foster guardians related to his father. The circumstances surrounding the fire are still under investigation. In July 2020, Kyle, who faced five counts of murder, was deemed unfit to stand trial. Even if charges are eventually brought successfully, Illinois law prevents incarceration for a child his age at the time of the offense. Instead, any outcome would likely involve therapy, counseling, psychological evaluation, and probation, which could not extend beyond his 21st birthday.
The individuals on this list come from varied backgrounds and had diverse, often disturbing, motivations. Their stories serve as a chilling reminder that the capacity for devastation isn’t confined to a specific profile, and that the act of arson leaves behind not just physical scars, but deep emotional and societal wounds.
What did you find most shocking about these cases? Do any of these stories challenge your perception of who an arsonist might be? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
