Fugitive Cal Fire Chief Suspected Of Murder Accused Of Double Life; Claims Of Firefighter Sex Scandal
SACRAMENTO (CBS SF) — The search for a fire chief suspected in a fatal stabbing has uncovered allegations of a double life and claims of sexual escapades between firefighters and prostitutes.
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection battalion chief Orville "Moe" Fleming, 55, is suspected of fatally stabbing his 26-year-old girlfriend Sarah Jane Douglas at the house they shared together in Sacramento on May 1.
CBS Sacramento reported that Douglas was a high-priced escort who met Fleming on MyRedbook.com—a site that connects escorts with customers, and even offers patrons the opportunity to write reviews about the services.
It was on the site that Fleming's family said Fleming assumed an alter ego. They claim he was a regular poster on the website, who used the alias, "bucketlist."
Fleming's estranged wife, Meagan Fleming, told KXTV Sacramento that she has seen evidence that Fleming, and other firefighters, had sex with prostitutes.
"She said to me and my daughter and my son, if your husband doesn't pay, your husband is going to go to jail and I have a sex tape of him being at the academy with firemen," Meagan Fleming told KXTV. "I saw not only my husband but other men, I will not implicate their names, with prostitutes and firemen at the fire department."
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman Daniel Berlant said the allegations concerning videotaped sex and firefighters are serious but unsubstantiated.
He said that Cal Fire would take action if the allegations are proved to be true.
Sacramento County Sheriff's Department spokesman Sgt. Brian Meux said Fleming may be hiding in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
Meux said Fleming has good knowledge of the back-country, in particular the Sierra, Yosemite and rural Santa Cruz—and that he may have a pair of handguns. As a battalion chief, Fleming also has keys and codes to Cal Fire facilities across the state.
"He had a lot to lose and with that, that gives him a lot of motivation to act erratically." Meux said.
Fleming is 6 feet tall, 190 pounds, with brown hair and eyes. He has tattoos on his left arm.
Meux said that Fleming is considered armed and dangerous and has probably changed his appearance but is still nursing cut wounds to his hands as a result of the knife attack.
On Thursday, Berlant said Fleming had been fired from his post.
Fleming, who has taught for several years at the department's fire academy in Ione, has not reported for duty or called in for five days.
Berlant said the termination was automatic because of Fleming's absence from work and has nothing to do with the allegations against him.