A Little Rock woman accused of setting a series of apartment fires last year confessed to starting half of the blazes when she was arrested this week, a federal arson investigator testified Wednesday.
The woman, Lacey Moore, said she likely was behind the other fires but couldn’t remember because she was heavily drugged at the time, the federal agent told a federal magistrate judge during Wednesday’s bail hearing.
Special agent David Oliver of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives testified Wednesday that during his investigation he found that Moore, 43, reacted to mental and emotional duress by setting fires, including the seven between Feb. 24 and June 28 at the Forest Place apartment complex, where Moore once lived, as well as at the homes of friends she had stayed with.
“Everywhere Lacey [Moore] went, fire seemed to follow her,” Oliver said.
Oliver was one of two to testify for the U.S.
attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Arkansas, which argued before U.S. Magistrate Judge Beth Deere that Moore’s history of mental-health problems, followed by the stresses inherent in a federal prosecution, made Moore a risk to herself and the community, and that Deere should not allow Moore bail.
After the 3½-hour hearing, Deere ruled against requests by Moore’s attorneys for Moore to be released to a third-party guardian, and remanded Moore to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending a mental evaluation at a federal facility.
“There is no adequate third-party custodian who can do what is necessary at this time,” Deere said. “[Moore’s release] creates an unreasonable risk to the community.”
Moore remained at the Pulaski County jail Wednesday night where she has been held on a suicide-watch since she was booked in Monday afternoon, according to police.
Indicted Monday on five counts of arson, two counts of arson resulting in injury and one count of possession of an unregistered destructive device, Moore had been under investigation since the Little Rock Fire Department contacted ATF agents in early June, according to Oliver. She had been subject to surveillance as well as multiple interviews with investigators, Oliver said.
Oliver told court officials Wednesday that as early as a month into the formation of a federal, state and local task force to investigate the fires, which caused millions of dollars in damage and left scores of residents homeless, he told Moore that he believed she was behind the fires.
According to Oliver, the proximity of Moore’s apartment to the first fires, as well as her outspoken views in social-media discussions about the fires, led investigators to consider her among many potential suspects.
The first four fires were set in pairs on Feb. 24 and Feb. 25 and again on May 15 and May 16.
They occurred after midnight and were set in a garbage chute next to Moore’s apartment.
While the first three fires did minor damage, the May 16 fire led firefighters to evacuate about 400 people from the apartment building, which received $4 million in damage.
The fires grew “progressively worse,” Oliver said, and two of them involved the use of accelerants.
The June 4 fire was set in an elevator and used PVC piping glue and mineral spirits, according to Oliver, products that were stolen from the garage of Moore’s ex-husband, Jon Moore.
According to Oliver, Moore said she was upset about a recent breakup with a man she’d just discovered had been cheating on her.
Moore reportedly told Oliver that the fires, in addition to several kinds of “pills,” gave her a sense of relief from the emotional stress caused by breakups, fights with family members and other personal crises.
The June 26 fire, which engulfed the entire first floor hallway of the southern building of the apartment complex, showed traces of gasoline, according to investigators, and resulted in a Little Rock firefighter’s shoulder injury and months long recovery.
Through interviews, emails, text messages, social-media monitoring, surveillance and other investigative techniques, Oliver said, he was confident enough by mid-January to present his case to the U.S. attorney’s office to get the ball rolling on Monday’s unsealed indictment.
Moore’s ex-husband also testified against letting Moore go free.
According to Jon Moore, the two have a friendly relationship, and he has often had to help her whenever she found herself stressed by emotional or personal problems.
He said he worried not just for the safety of the community, but for Moore’s safety, if she is released from jail.
“If she is released, she will kill herself,” Jon Moore said. “I believe she will succeed this time.”
Each arson charge carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison. The charges stemming from the injured firefighters carry penalties of up to 40 years in prison, and the charge of possessing a destructive device could result in 10 years in prison.
Moore’s trial is tentatively set for March 11, and she is to undergo psychiatric evaluation before it starts.
Front Section, Pages 1 on 02/13/2014