San Jose arson fires: Patrick William Brennan confesses

[alp227]

Source: San Jose Mercury News

A man charged Friday with starting a string of fires during a harrowing five-day period confessed to police earlier this week that he had touched them all off with his cigarette lighter -- using paper bags, a plastic glove, roll of carpeting, plant debris and cardboard boxes as kindling, according to court documents released Friday.

Patrick William Brennan, 48, also told police when he was arrested Wednesday -- just three days after the last fire -- that he knew full well several of the homes he torched or tried to torch were occupied, according to the statement of facts in the court file.

The fires caused $6 million in damage, prosecutors said, and terrorized a neighborhood east of downtown. The last fire occurred Sunday and police arrested Brennan three days later, on Wednesday night.

Brennan, who is a registered arson and sex offender, was charged Friday with 13 felony counts in connection with the fires, including a blaze that destroyed a huge warehouse and another that left one couple homeless. His other targets included a portable trailer that the Greater St. John Baptist Church used as a classroom, as well as commercial buildings and homes.

Read more: http://www.mercurynews.com/crime-courts/ci_24935935/san-jose-arson-fires-suspect-patrick-william-brennan

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Story has been covered nationally by CNN and AP.

The mercury news also published: Serial arson suspect also arrested in 1999 for hill fires

[tofuandbeer]

1. What is it that arsonists get out of setting fires?

It seems so strange that someone would get a "high" from it. I would feel horribly guilty watching wildlife run scared, houses burn to the ground, etc.
:/

[ReRe]

3. I don't understand it...

... I wish someone who knows would chime in here and fill us in. What is going on inside the mind of an arsonist? Is it just plain old-fashioned sadism inside the mind of a psychopath? I'm glad they caught him, before he ruined anyone else's life.

[raven mad]

5. The psychological reasons behind arson fires - the ones that are not for profit

are still undergoing extensive study.

According to a 1987 report in the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, the vast majority of "profiled" arsonists have a below-normal IQ -- typically between 70 and 90. About one in four fall in the below-70 IQ range that qualifies them as mentally retarded -- not to say that all mentally retarded children are going to grow up to be arsonists.

"In these types of cases, arson is often committed by someone who is retarded but also angry. It's that combination that is a catalyst -- their anger but having fewer means to express it," says Dvoskin. "Honestly, I can't think of a single arsonist I've dealt with for whom anger wasn't the primary motivator."

In the FBI report, as well as statistics by the U.S. Fire Administration, part of the Department of Homeland Security, half of all arsons are committed by those younger than age 18; the other half is typically in their late 20s. In arson cases involving older people, the motivation is usually for profit. About 90% of all arsonists are male and they are usually white, states the FBI report.

Granted, this is simplistic AND an older study, but it is a start, from WebMD:
http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/news/20031029/inside-arsonists-mind

[tofuandbeer]

9. +1

[jtuck004]

2. One of the families burned out owned their home, no insurance. The La Vigna family,

in their 60's, had paid off their home years before, and were paying their insurance every month when one day the insurance co switched to a yearly premium. Unable to come up with the whole vig, they had to let it lapse, and were looking for another. He struck b4 they found one, lost their home of 47 years.

They have no savings to rebuild.

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_24920459/san-jose-arson-suspect-arrested

[Control-Z]

4. Damn.

I hope the community steps in to help. I wonder if there are victim funds of some sort for this kind of loss?

Damn. I just hate hearing this.

[Shrike47]

6. Arson if not for profit is a very sad crime.

Terrible for the home owners and odd for the perps, who often have compulsions they can't explain.

[kelliekat44]

7. He already had "three strikes" the last time he was arrested. Too bad he wasn't some minority pot

smoker...he would have been in jail for the rest of his life with 3 strikes. This makes me so angry...especially about the family who owned their home but had no insurance and are left with holding that framed picture. They look elderly and now are homeless. If this perp ever gets out of jail again they need to lock up the jury and the judge.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

8. Judges sentence, juries do not. Further, parole boards play a role. nt