Naperville Arson Case's Fire Caused By Burning Cigarette: Expert

NAPERVILLE, IL — More than 22 years after William Amor confessed to starting the fire that killed his mother-in-law, a fire expert is asserting that a still-lit cigarette ignited a couch and caused the blaze, Daily Herald Reports Amor was convicted in 1997 of aggravated arson in the 1995 fire that killed Marianne Micelli. Amor's conviction was overturned in 2017 after that same fire expert raised questions that suggested the fire might not have been an arson.

The fire expert, Douglas Carpenter, who works as vice president of Combustion Science and Engineering Inc., testified in 2016 that the fire that killed Micelli was likely caused by accident. On Monday, Carpenter asserted that the lit cigarette theory was "the most scientifically reliable conclusion, Daily Herald reports.

Amor had confessed that he soaked a newspaper in vodka and then ignited it with a cigarette to start a fire in the home he and his now ex-wife shared with Micelli. Carpenter testified that vodka could not cause a fire to ignite in that manner, which led Judge Liam Brennan to vacate Amor's sentence.

Amor's lawyers have implied that he was coerced into a confession after "two weeks in jail, immediately followed by being served divorce papers at the station, and 15 hours of questioning," according to an earlier report by Patch.

Amor was sentenced to 45 years in the wake of his confession and conviction. He's served just under half of that sentence thus far.

>>Image courtesy of DuPage County Police Department

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