INDIANAPOLIS — A man is in custody after a woman was found dead inside a fire-damaged trailer home on Indianapolis' southwest side Wednesday morning.
According to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, just after 8:30 a.m., officers were dispatched to the 2800 block of Landola Lane on a report of a person down and unresponsive.
A roommate had arrived home after her overnight shift and found fire damage throughout the living room and the woman deceased in a bedroom — near a window, with a container of charcoal lighter fluid at her feet. The fire was already out when authorities arrived.
A probable cause afiidavit revealed the suspect told detectives he had been arguing with the victim before leaving the home and walking to a nearby Family Dollar, where he stole a box of matches. He said he returned to the home with the intention of setting it on fire.
Unable to find lighter fluid, he used nail polish remover to ignite the living room couch and left as the smoke alarm began sounding. A receipt for the matches was later found and the box of matches was recovered from a nearby creek where he said he had thrown it.
The suspect later returned to the home, looked for the victim but said he did not find her, then left again — discarding three cell phones into a nearby sewer. Two of those phones were recovered by detectives.
When officers located the suspect in a vehicle nearby, his hands were visibly covered in black soot.
He was arrested on charges of murder and arson resulting in serious bodily injury. The Marion County Prosecutor's Office will make the final charging decision.
