Man angry about getting no presents burns down home

**johnnymk** · 12-29-2004, 09:55 AM

FEASTERVILLE, Pa. - A man who was angry that he got no presents for Christmas burned down his parent's house early the next morning, police said.

Steven Murray, 21, was charged with arson and risking a catastrophe in the blaze that destroyed his family's home, Lower Southampton police officer Peter Liese said.

"He was irritated that his family gave him no presents for Christmas," Liese said.

No one was injured in the fire, which started at 2:25 a.m. Sunday.

Police said Murray told a friend that he was angry on Christmas Day when he didn't get any presents. He voluntarily checked into Warminster General Hospital on Saturday under the state's voluntary commitment law, but later signed himself out and walked eight miles home, police said.

He told police he saw the flames in the distance, but officers said his jacket smelled of smoke and they found a lighter in his pocket and a gas can under trash bags and bins about 10 feet from the front door.

Police said Murray admitted his involvement to officers and threatened and spat at them while in custody and also spat at Bristol District Justice Frank Peranteau during his arraignment Sunday evening.

"So what if I burned my house down?" Murray asked during the proceedings. "It's my house."

Peranteau set bail at $1 million and had Murray transferred to the Bucks County prison in Doylestown. It could not immediately be determined whether he had an attorney

**Mommypooh** · 12-29-2004, 09:59 AM

Wow! the things that people do.

**BrewMaster** · 12-29-2004, 10:16 AM

obviously he is mentally disturbed as alluded to in the article, but man, I wonder if he's going to get any presents next year from his family? maybe a lump of coal and beating.

**oblongmelon** · 12-29-2004, 10:26 AM

Originally Posted by BrewMaster

obviously he is mentally disturbed as alluded to in the article, but man, I wonder if he's going to get any presents next year from his family? maybe a lump of coal and beating.

everyone knows that anthracite burns clean and long..so I think the coal would only be fuel for his fire

**Gothic Girl** · 12-29-2004, 11:02 AM

He must have been a very spoiled child to have gotten that angry when he didn't get any presents.

**BrewMaster** · 12-29-2004, 11:14 AM

Originally Posted by oblongmelon

everyone knows that anthracite burns clean and long..so I think the coal would only be fuel for his fire

touche. but I'd hardly call coal "clean."

**YanksFanRy** · 12-29-2004, 12:01 PM

Do you have a link to this?

**nimj2323ck** · 12-29-2004, 12:23 PM

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=366269

**welfareloser** · 12-29-2004, 01:52 PM

my first thought was of the three boys who got their gameboys listed on ebay... i wonder if their parents started sweating after they saw this article

**BrewMaster** · 12-29-2004, 01:53 PM

Originally Posted by welfareloser

my first thought was of the three boys who got their gameboys listed on ebay... i wonder if their parents started sweating after they saw this article

maybe, but the water from the firehoses probably cooled them off. either that or they chained their kids to chairs to make sure they didn't carry out their new idea...

**Gothic Girl** · 12-29-2004, 01:58 PM

Originally Posted by welfareloser

my first thought was of the three boys who got their gameboys listed on ebay... i wonder if their parents started sweating after they saw this article

**YanksFanRy** · 12-29-2004, 03:09 PM

Go buy yourself a gift or something, geez!

And, hey, I've never received anything for Christmas

**BrewMaster** · 12-29-2004, 03:14 PM

aren't you Jewish YanksFanRy? i don't know if that counts. i mean, i've never received anything for Hanukah (sp?) either.

**YanksFanRy** · 12-29-2004, 03:16 PM

I wasn't complaining BM, just kiddin' around!

**BrewMaster** · 12-29-2004, 03:32 PM

Originally Posted by YanksFanRy

I wasn't complaining BM, just kiddin' around!

i know. me too. here are some smilies that should have been in my last post.

**raimin** · 12-29-2004, 07:29 PM

Originally Posted by BrewMaster

aren't you Jewish YanksFanRy? i don't know if that counts. i mean, i've never received anything for Hanukah (sp?) either.

how bout Festivus

**bachviet** · 12-29-2004, 08:20 PM

Darn that is nut!

**oblongmelon** · 12-29-2004, 09:39 PM

Originally Posted by BrewMaster

touche. but I'd hardly call coal "clean."

Time for a history lesson...
http://www.conesuscoal.com/prod03.htm

I spent the better part of my life in Scranton-Anthracite (hard coal) was a way of life back then (and to some still is)..not only did it keep people in jobs, it was a cheap and plentiful heat source for cooking, and for warming homes. My grandmother used it till the day she died. My parents used it. My aunts and uncles used it (some still do). It was a much warmer, much friendlier source of heat. You paid for your coal-you didn't pay conglomerate utility companies to run lines and supply over priced oils if you didn't have to. I can remember the coal crackers would make deliveries to the homes and drop a ton or so down the shoot into the coal room in the basement. Seems like it never ran out. We never had to fight over being told to clean out the ash bin in my grandmother's coal stove because there was rarely any ash to be had..maybe once every 3 days if she kept the stove going the entire time. (which she did). If you ever get a chance to buzz through the Scranton Area-take a trip to McDade park-they have tours through the mines..pretty neat to see-but from what my uncles told me-a bitch to work in.

**welfareloser** · 12-30-2004, 08:28 AM

well, corporate self-promotion might not be the best source of a good education on the subject... they did gloss over a few things here and there. but, yeah, you're mostly right... but that was back in the day... black coal is pretty clean. unfortunately, we're running out. i believe we have about 20-40 years worth of it left on the planet. for example, in alberta/bc, they have some of the best black coal left... the only people who can afford to buy it are american and japanese (i think) steel companies. stayed a week with a miner... good money, hard work. anyway, planetwide, we have about 200 years worth of brown coal left... which is dirty as all-git-out and expensive to clean.

and now the requisite non-sequitur... one relic from my sister's new house/gramma's old house is part of an old coal stove... it's AWESOME!! it's kinda shaped like a liquor hip flask, about 5 ft tall, has sort of a diving-bell looking window on it, painted red... anyway, it looks like a 1950s crash-landed UFO... i'm forcing her to save it for me so i can turn it into part of a treehouse/clubhouse when my kids are a little older