Woman Arrested In Houston Fire That Killed 3, Court Appearance Set For Tuesday

Associated Press via KOTV ^ | April 8, 2007 | Associated Press

[COEXERJ145]

HOUSTON (AP) _ A licensed vocational nurse has been arrested and accused of starting a fire in her office that killed three people and injured six others.

The March 28 fire spread throughout the fifth floor of a six-story building. Three firefighters were among the injured.

Misty Ann Weaver, 34, was scheduled to make her first court appearance Tuesday, charged with three counts of felony murder and one count of first-degree arson.

Weaver, arrested late Saturday, remained in jail Sunday in lieu of $330,000 bail, said Harris County Sheriff's Department spokesman Lt. John Martin.

[COEXERJ145]

Original Live Thread on the Fire.

[COEXERJ145]

Update to the story we were following.

[yankeedame]

The weekend surprise

The tragic East Loop fire took a surprising turn over the weekend. By now, most of you know a nurse by the name of Misty Ann Weaver is charged with arson and three counts of murder.

According to investigators, she worked in the plastic surgery office of Dr. Robert Capriotti. Apparently, Weaver was late with some audit paperwork, and decided to create a small fire as a delay.

Investigators say she confessed. The courts will decide. But like so many others, I was shocked the possibility missing an audit deadline could have led to something so tragic.

Considering the age of the building and the variety of businesses it held, many people I talked to just assumed the investigation would lead to something electrical, or other "accidental" cause. But on Saturday night, phones of city leaders began to ring. On the other end, it would Fire Chief Phil Boriskie telling them the shocking results of the investigation.

A news conference was held shortly after, where members of the media were also told of the surprising cause of the fire that killed three people, injured three firefighters, and left dozens of businesses devastated.

Source: http://politicalblog.abc13.com/2007/04/the_weekend_sur.html

[COEXERJ145]

Wasn’t a Muslim terrorist.

[Allegra]

According to investigators, she worked in the plastic surgery office of Dr. Robert Capriotti. Apparently, Weaver was late with some audit paperwork, and decided to create a small fire as a delay.

What a selfish idiot.

Now, three good people are dead and their families shattered and part of a building destroyed because she was so stupid.

[The PeteMan]

What difference does it make if she was a “Muslim terrorist” or not? Idiot.

[COEXERJ145]

Because some people were claiming the fire was started by Muslim terrorists.

Giving Islamic terrorists credit for every event does more for their cause than they could ever accomplish on their own.

[pillut48]

Not “claiming”—offering a possible link to terrorism.

[Sally'sConcerns]

Y’know, not everything has a possible link to terrorism. Good grief! Please tell me you really didn’t entertain for even one second the idea that a 6 story building not located in downtown Houston could possibly be linked in any way to terrorism.

There are plenty of other places in Houston which would be much better targets for terrorists. Um, like both airports (probably the bigger one would cause the most grief so would be a better target in order to cause mayhem) or the port (it’s kind of a big, busy port so it might cause a little disruption) or some of the federal buildings or buildings in the Galleria or at Greenspoint or downtown or any number of places where mini-downtowns have sprung up.

Oh gnos!!!!!!! I was without power for close to an hour and have only had the electricity back on long enough to reboot my computer (to make sure it was okay even though I have a surge protector.) I haven’t even blown out all of the candles I lit. BRB, gotta go running down the street warning everyone about a possible link to terrorism. Who knows what those terrorist will hit next! After all, I just know my town is a prime target...all 4,500 of us!

COEXERJ145, It boggles my mind that someone would think even a small fire would buy them more time to complete something as mundane as audit paperwork. My first thought was someone that incredibly stupid shouldn’t be allowed to be out on the streets. I really hope she’s haunted by what she’s done because I have absolutely no sympathy for her.

If you’ve been in the workforce for any length of time then you’ve experienced one of those “Oh crap, I’m in trouble now!” moments along with that sinking feeling knowing you’ve really messed up. Most of us gut it up and deal with it even if it means we get fired because deep down we understand we should have done differently. Usually what ends up happening is we get reprimanded and then we have to rush around doing what we should have done in the first place.

I watched that fire burn as it happened. I saw people being rescued. I saw firemen being overcome by smoke and their fellow firemen helping them down the ladder.

Did that woman come forward of her own accord or did she continue to hide?

Sorry for the rant but this just makes me sick.

[pillut48]

I'm not saying lock yourselves indoors in fear from now on--I just have to wonder at all the various little things that happen around the US that seem to happen innocuously: train derailments, industrial explosions, etc. --why wouldn't it be feasible for terrorists to attack 'little' targets to achieve their goals? What better way to erode a country's determination to win the WOT...In many countries in the middle East (ie Israel) terror comes in the form of pizza places being bombed--I wouldn't call a mom and pop pizza joint a BIG target, but there you are...with our open borders problem, I think we should not gloss over the *possibility* that such things ~could~ have a connection to terrorism. Like W says, go about your business as usual, but be aware that there could be danger here, in America. We aren't covered with bubble wrap, although many people seem to think such a thing is true.

[COEXERJ145]

No, I did not ever think it was terrorism. My comments on this thread were made because people on the original thread were saying it was.

[Sally'sConcerns]

Pizza places in Israel are being bombed specifically to cause horrific loss of life as well as fear. If we had a group who claimed credit and who's modus operandi was to create fear in order to keep us afraid to go about our daily business then I might go along with your premise. We don't though. There aren't suicide bombers going into restaurants and blowing themselves as well as innocent people up. Especially on the scale of what happens in Israel. Think about it...if we were to multiply the size of Israel and have the same (or even some lesser amount) of incidents as they've had then we might have reason to yell terrorism at every last incident.

Instead we have an office building which catches on fire for (at the time) unknown reasons right after 5:00pm which is a time when people are leaving to go home. Yes, there was loss of life but no where near the scope if the fire had been 'deliberately' set at 10:00am or 3:00pm. Why the 5th floor? After all, if it was terrorism, why not the first floor where people would be trapped and not be able to get out? Why would they pick a building which had a banner hanging from the roof advertising space for lease, especially since it's not one of the larger buildings in Houston?

It's not feasible in the United States for terrorists to attack 'little' targets because we are such a big country. Stuff happens and it's innocuous simply because we are such a big country and it would take something more than one 6 story building having a fire on the fifth floor. The whole point of terrorism is to grab people's attention and engender fear.

So it was a news item in Houston and was a quick blurb nationally once the news came out three people died. Let's see, I don't recall there being burning office buildings in Dallas, OKC, Kansas City, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Tallahassee, Charlotte, Denver, Las Vegas and so forth. Do you? One building in one city isn't going to create an atmosphere of fear. It's simply a burning building where three people died because of an idiot woman and that's all it is. It's awful and terrible and tragic but it isn't terrorism.

When we assign terrorism to every incident we run a very great risk of numbing people to the point where when and if the terrorists strike again it will be very much like Chicken Little crying out the sky is falling. There's no sense in blaming terrorism for everything which happens. Trains derail, buildings catch fire, refineries explode, stuff happens and it's not terrorism. It's life.

Did you have any doubt when the Murrah Building was hit or when the WTC was hit that it was the work of terrorists? I didn't. Heck, as soon as the second plane hit the WTC I knew we were under attack and I knew at a gut level who was responsible. I looked at my (now ex) husband and we both, at the same time, said Bin Laden. We knew and the reason we knew it was terrorism was because it was designed to make a statement. A six story building in one city doesn't make a statement. Don't dilute the word terrorism to the point where people become so used to the word itself they pay no attention.

Now, tell me again how many acts of terrorism there have been because our borders are porous? I seem to remember all of the terrorists responsible for 911 were initially here legally, do you have information to the contrary? Refresh my memory please, which one's crossed the Canadian and/or Mexican border?

By the way, while you're thinking about it, don't put me in the open border/amnesty crowd. I want the borders closed and for us to get serious about deporting illegals. While it's not conventional terrorism, I do think we're being forced to endure ongoing damage caused by illegal immigration...but that's a topic for another thread and not this one.

And like W says, I go about my business as usual but am very aware terrorists could strike anywhere. I'm not wrapped up in bubble wrap, neither am I Chicken Little going about hollering "The sky is falling, the sky is falling."

[Sally'sConcerns]

No, I did not ever think it was terrorism. My comments on this thread were made because people on the original thread were saying it was.

(I knew you didn't think it was terrorism. That's how come I addressed you by SN a little later in my post because I wanted to respond about the actual idiot (and not some phantom terrorist) who was responsible for starting the fire.)

[pillut48]

Okay. I get it. We are totally safe from any and all terrorist attacks. America is too cool to be the target of any smaller attacks, there will only be big ones in the future. Gotcha.
/sarc

Me, I’m thinking I’m gonna follow the Boy Scouts motto and
“Be Prepared”—I don’t mean wear the tin-foil hat, but if something seems suspicious, for me, terrorism *could* have played a part, until further investigation rules it out.
(And not just me, I’m noticing.) No “Chicken Little” here, but if you remember, he was right after all, wasn’t he?! ;-)

[texanyankee]

Thanks. I saw the headline this morning on the internet about this loser.

I woulda never thunk it....she deserves to be punished to the fullest extent of the law - 3 dead cuz of her!

[Sally'sConcerns]

Believe whatever you choose to believe. If you somehow managed to interpret what I said as us being safe from any and all terrorist attacks then nothing I say now will change your mind.

If you want to entertain the idea buildings never caught on fire before the U.S. was hit by real terrorists, then have at it.

Chicken Little was right? Ooookay! Well, in my world the sky is still up there and the acorn which fell from the tree really wasn’t the sky falling no matter what Chicken Little claimed.

[pillut48]

Believe whatever you choose to believe. If you somehow managed to interpret what I said as us being safe from any and all terrorist attacks then nothing I say now will change your mind. But of course I will. :-) You seem to think I'm attributing EVERY little distaster in our country to terrorism--I'm not. I'm just saying I wonder how many CAN be attributed--you've heard the phrase "nickeled and dimed to death"? Same concept, whittle away from the inside out--just check out some posts here and there on FR--makes you wonder, just a little bit, doesn't it? If you want to entertain the idea buildings never caught on fire before the U.S. was hit by real terrorists, then have at it. Never said that, or intimated such a thing. :-) Please stick to the facts, ma'am. ;-) "Real" terrorists, is it, hmmm? I guess you could say then that what I wonder about would be those 'un-real' terrorists out there... Chicken Little was right? Ooookay! Well, in my world the sky is still up there and the acorn which fell from the tree really wasn’t the sky falling no matter what Chicken Little claimed. My bad here. Should have mentioned I was referring to the recent movie, not the original fairy tale. :-)