Report: Matthew Badger May Sue Michael Borcina Over Deadly Christmas Day Fire
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - Matthew Badger lost his three daughters in a deadly blaze on Christmas Day in Stamford that stunned the Tri-State community.
The house caught fire after Michael Borcina, the contractor working on the home and also the boyfriend of Matthew's estranged wife Madonna Badger, put coals and hot ashes from the fireplace next to the trash enclosure attached to the home. The enclosure caught fire and the house was soon engulfed.
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In January, officials in Connecticut were scrutinizing the circumstances of the blaze, trying to determine if it was just a horrible accident or a crime.
Sources told CBS 2's Lou Young the core of the potential criminal issue has to do with the smoke detectors and fire extinguishers which may have been removed from the home, which caught fire while under renovation. If they were stored in the garage or elsewhere, that may be construed as criminally negligent homicide or even manslaughter. Since Borcina is the contractor responsible for the renovation, he could find himself facing criminal charges.
The New York Post reported Matthew Badger has taken preliminary steps that would pave the way for a wrongful death suit against Borcina.
Badger reportedly has no intention of suing his estranged wife, who was in the house with Borcina when it burned down. The blaze killed the three Badger children Lily, Sarah and Grace along with Madonna's parents Lomer and Pauline Johnson.
"The fact is that Borcina was the contractor on the job. He was aware of the dangers, or should have been aware of dangers, that a civilian would have been unaware of," Matthew Badger's attorney Richard Emery told the Post.
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