Maddi O’Neill
News Editor
As the Voice reported two weeks ago, an anonymous communication regarding the Cornwell car fire led to the opening of an arson investigation by the Wooster Police Department. This week, the Voice can provide more details in the events surrounding the incident.
On Tuesday, Sept. 3, two days after the car fire, Voice editor Travis Marmon ’14 checked the newspaper’s mailbox and discovered a note that had been delivered through campus mail. The note contained a detailed description of the car fire, including information about the fire’s point of origin on the vehicle. This specific information appears to be accurate with what the Wooster Fire Division reported in its public record.
Sergeant John Merillat, the Wooster Police Department’s lead detective on the fire investigation, acknowledged that “the writer [of the note] appeared to have some knowledge about the fire that would not necessarily have been known to the public.”
The note also described damage to fence posts near President Cornwell’s car, claiming that the damage had been done by the arsonists. The Voice previously reported that this information was inaccurate, but further investigation has been inconclusive — it is currently undetermined whether the damage was old or first appeared the night of the fire.
Particularly concerning was the note’s assertion that an unnamed individual had started the fire purposefully by pouring an accelerant over the vehicle.
A member of the Voice staff brought the note to Steve Glick, Director of Security and Protective Services, who handled it with gloves and explained that it would be stored in an evidence bag. The note will be sent to the state Bureau of Criminal Investigation to be tested for fingerprints. All Voice staffers who touched the note will soon be fingerprinted so that the crime lab may perform an exclusionary test and determine what other fingerprints are on the note.
On the night of the car fire, investigators used an automated wand to “sniff” for combustible fluids like those mentioned in the note. Dean of Students Kurt Holmes, who has been following the investigation closely, said that the device did not pick up on any accelerants the night of the fire, leading investigators to look for a mechanical cause. A more thorough investigation of the vehicle, however, showed no evidence of a mechanical malfunction that could have caused the fire.
“In the absence of evidence of a mechanical failure,” explained Holmes, “investigators are assuming intent.”
“At the outset the cause was undetermined and there was no evidence to suggest arson, but of course the note changed things,” Merillat said. “…We still need to make a better determination about how the fire started.” To do so, the College’s insurance company is conducting a more in-depth investigation into the cause of the fire. Samples from the vehicle have been sent for testing to determine whether an accelerant was in fact used to light the fire. The test results should be available in a few weeks.
The Voice will continue to provide updates as the investigation progresses. Anyone with more information regarding the car fire or the note should call Security and Protective Services at (330) 263-2590 or drop off a letter at the Voice’s mailbox, C-3187.