Arson and fraud mix in a deadly combo

Fraud is a non-violent offense, right? Most times. But this is the story of how fraudulent economic arson in a small suburban neighborhood in Indianapolis, Indiana, turned deadly. Community members are reassembling their lives. Here are lessons from the investigation for discovering evidence on arson-for-profit cases.

One witness described the events of Saturday, Nov. 10, 2012, at 11:10 p.m. as “chaos” when a huge explosion rocked the neighborhood of Richmond Hill on the south side of Indianapolis, Indiana. Another witness thought it was an earthquake. She ran out of her partially destroyed home and saw her community on fire. A third witness wondered if it was the end of the world. (See Resident feared ‘mass shooter in neighborhood’ on night of Richmond Hill blast, by Matt Adams, Fox 59, June 11, 2015.)

An earthquake monitoring system approximately 50 miles away from ground zero of the blast likely detected sound wave data in the form of an “airwave boom.” (See the IndyStar’s Richmond Hill timeline.)