Neighbor: Slain restaurateur's husband asked me to watch house burn
SALT LAKE CITY -- The Salt Lake City man suspected of murdering his restaurateur husband and setting their home on fire allegedly invited a neighbor to watch the house burn, reports CBS affiliate KUTV.
John Williams, 72, was found after responders put out a fire at his Salt Lake City home early Sunday morning, the station reports. Investigators ruled the death suspicious and have arrested Williams' estranged husband Craig Crawford, 47, on suspicion of aggravated homicide and aggravated arson.
According to charging documents obtained by Crimesider, Crawford also lives in the home. As fire officials responded to reports of a fire around 1:30 a.m., they heard someone inside the house yelling for help. They entered the home, discovered Williams and attempted to revive him, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police and fire investigators uncovered evidence that indicated Crawford intentionally set the blaze, according to the documents, filed by the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office Sunday. Investigators believe Crawford was at the home during the beginning stages of the fire, and they say he was seen walking back to the home once it was engulfed in flames.
Crawford allegedly never called dispatchers to report the fire.
Neighbor Pat Rogers told the station that the night of the blaze, Crawford knocked on her door and invited her to come outside to watch as his house burn. She said Crawford was acting strangely and wasn't wearing a shirt or shoes.
She said she went outside with him and stood with others who were watching the blaze. She told the station Crawford then walked calmly back into the home before the firefighters arrived.
It wasn't the first time Rogers had seen Crawford act in a bizarre manner - she told the station she once saw the man standing on the lawn outside her home, staring at her photographs inside. She said Crawford and Williams had been together about 18 years, but the relationship was tumultuous and had been strained in the last two years.
The fire occurred less than three weeks after Williams filed for divorce from Crawford and sought a temporary restraining order that was rejected.
Williams was the owner of the popular Market Street Grill. His friends and colleagues - many influential city and state leaders - expressed shock and dismay about the death of the man they called a great businessman and LGBT pioneer who was an instrumental figure in Salt Lake City.
Williams, whose parents were educators in Idaho, came to Utah to go to college 50 years ago and "changed the fabric" of the community, Utah state Sen. Jim Dabakis said in a statement. The buildings he restored in Salt Lake City and the restaurants he ran raised standards in the city, Dabakis said.
"The quiet bridges John built between the emerging LGBT community and the Utah business world made this a better place for all of us to live," said Dabakis, a gay Democrat.
Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski, the city's first openly gay mayor, said in a statement that she's devastated by the loss of her dear friend and local hero.
"There are patrons of the arts, sciences and education, but John Williams was a patron of our city and helped it become the wonderful place it is today," Biskupski said.
Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said Tuesday that his office will likely take several days to weigh charges for Crawford. He said the fires present unique challenges for investigators because large chunks of evidence can be destroyed.