Posted on 10/17/2004 8:49:53 PM PDT by SmithL
BRENTWOOD, Calif. -- Preliminary information suggests that a man who apparently committed suicide after setting a fire in Yosemite National Park had earlier killed his wife and two young daughters, police said Sunday.
The bodies of Michelle Celebrini, 32, and her daughters, 6-year-old Nina Celebrini and 9-year-old Samantha Foutch, were found Saturday in their home in Brentwood, about 50 miles east of San Francisco.
The same day, rangers in a remote area of the national park's Hetch Hetchy basin found a body that they believe is that of an arsonist who ignited a 2,000-acre blaze in the area. Brentwood police Sgt. Tom Hansen said investigators suspect the body is that of Richard Celebrini, who they believe killed his wife and the girls.
Autopsy results were not released Sunday, but park spokesman Scott Gediman said the suspected arsonist appears to have died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
On Friday, visitors told park rangers they saw a man lighting fires and brandishing a gun on a hiking trail in the Hetch Hetchy basin. The body found Saturday closely matches the description of the suspected arsonist, Gediman said.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
May his wife and children be in heaven... may he rot in....
Selfish to the end, a coward to the end, I see.
Was the 9 year old a stepdaughter? She had a different last name.
To her mother, she was a daughter.
The 9-year-old was the murderer's step-daughter. I heard on the news that another of his step-daughters, a 12-year-old, is alive because she spent the weekend with her father.
Exactly, a selfish coward.
We could see the smoke from our house in the Bass Lake area and wondered what was going on. Made me sick when I read the story in the paper to know he murdered his family before starting the fire.
I love it too. Are you near here?
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