Today the trial began for a young volunteer firefighter suspected of setting fire to a building, causing four deaths. The 20-year-old from Long Island—who experts say started the fire so that he could be a "hero"—faces charges of arson and second-degree murder. But in court today, the defendant's lawyer argued that police investigated the wrong man.
In his opening statement prosecutor Michael Canty said he doesn't think Caleb Lacey intended to kill the fire's victims, but wanted to look like a hero. According to Newsday, he was "sick of being teased about missing out on all the department's calls to big fires, so he set a fire himself, then drove to the firehouse and waited for the call. Canty said the plan was sweetened for Lacey because he considered one of the victims a possible threat to his new relationship with a girlfriend."
Lacey's lawyers tried to pin the crime on Edit Vanegas, Morena's husband. "He didn't get his daughters out. He didn't get his wife out. He didn't get his stepson out," said Christopher Cassar. "But police didn't investigate Eddie Vanegas. [Instead] they went after an easy target." Last week, the husband called Cassar's implications "pure lies" even though he admitted to having been separated from his wife in the past. "I was home with my wife and everything was fine," he said. "If I hadn't been there with my children, that's one thing. But I was there, with my children."
Police claim they have the firefighter cum arsonist's confession on tape, but the judge has ruled it can't be shown because of poor sound quality. The detective who interrogated Lacey will also not be allowed to testify. "They burned to death," said Vanegas's sister America Chavez. "He was supposed to save lives, not kill people."
