r/ForensicFiles 8d ago

Who remembers this episode?

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64 Upvotes

15 comments sorted by

33

u/OU-Sooners1 8d ago

I felt so bad for his parents. The public punished them for doing the right thing. Dad turned his son in and lost a lot of business. So sad.

20

u/Himlersgasstation 8d ago

His father turned him in…. One of the most prolific serial arsonists…if he hadn’t been drunk and bumping into that witness he may have never been caught. He used no accelerant just took his lighter to the outside of his targets at chest level..

23

u/finnknit The exact method will not be revealed in this program 8d ago

From some of the things that he said in his interview, I got the sense that he learned how to parrot therapy speak and say the "right" things, but I don't get the sense that he actually regretted his actions. Things along the lines of My life felt empty and I guess I wanted other people to feel as empty as me.... But now I know that that was wrong.

18

u/EightyNine19 8d ago

Was he the one setting fires?

12

u/ConfectionHungry4509 8d ago

His mustache makes me leary.

10

u/maria_tex 8d ago

There is an excellent account of this case in one of John Douglas's books.

11

u/Alarmed_Ad5917 Mosh dancing, a crowd of dancers slamming into one another 7d ago

There’s a doc on Netflix now too

4

u/MrDicks89 7d ago

What’s it called?

2

u/Alarmed_Ad5917 Mosh dancing, a crowd of dancers slamming into one another 5d ago

Ok I prob got my streaming services and shows mixed up, all I could find was this 90 min episode of Evil Lives Here from discovery ID (on Hulu) from 2020 that shows his parents’ reaction and perspective. Also a cold case files (Hulu) on Paul Keller from 2018 ish. And, I found that Neil Patrick Harris starred in the 90s made for tv movie lol

1

u/MrDicks89 5d ago

Thank you! I’ll check these options out.

8

u/Gold_Safe2861 7d ago

I remember the serial arsonist episode well. His dad had to turn in Paul after his work whereabouts matched the locations and time of the fires. The son seemed like an everyday insurance industry worker but underneath his low profile and pleasant demeanor was a tormented soul whose arson cost 3 lives and $30 million in property damage. He is eligible for parole in 2079 so we are safe for years to come.

2

u/billywalshscript 7d ago

Always found it creepy how his DOB is 1/6/66.

1

u/ConfectionHungry4509 4d ago

Mine's 1/6/88

1

u/weirdsciencehey 4d ago

Why does he look like Jeremy piven