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A Syracuse man was indicted by a grand jury Friday on two counts of murder in connection with a 1998 fire that left his two young sons dead.
David Reed, 29, was already in the Kosciusko County Jail when the charges were filed against him in Kosciusko Circuit Court after two days of grand jury testimony. He was scheduled to be sentenced in Kosciusko Superior Court I this morning on three counts of theft.
Austin David Reed, 3, and Justin Allen Reed, 1, died in their beds in the 11:17 a.m. March 1, 1998, fire at 9816 Majestic Way in Marineland Gardens on the south side of Lake Wawasee.
According to information gathered at the time of the fire, David Reed told investigators that he awoke to the smell of smoke and went across the street to his grandparents' house to call the fire department. He said he made several attempts to get into the house and rescue his sons, but was unable to do so because of the heavy smoke.
The boys' mother, Faith Ferguson, was not home when the fire occurred.
The fire was ruled accidental three days after an investigation by the Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department began. Four-year-old information noted that the cause of the fire was at first deemed "suspicious" because of unusual burn patterns in the manufactured home. However, an analysis of the evidence submitted to two Fort Wayne laboratories indicated there was no accelerant used to start the fire and it was surmised that the fire may have been started by the 3-year-old playing with a lighter.
Although the fire was ruled upon locally in 1998, the State Fire Marshal's Office continued its investigation, requesting the Indiana State Police to assist in July 2000. Senior Trooper Detective Tom Littlefield said information gathered since that time was compiled and presented to the Kosciusko County Prosecutor's Office for review. It was then decided that the matter would be presented by a special prosecutor to the grand jury.
Littlefield declined to provide any details that led to the indictment, saying the information was part of sealed grand jury testimony. The official charging information and indictment documents were not available this morning.
Pam Bright, director of public information and education for the State Fire Marshal's Office, said no information will be released on the case from her agency because the case is going to court, and comments are not made on pending cases.
Mike Christofeno of the Elkhart County Prosecutor's Office conducted the grand jury proceedings. He was not available for comment this morning.
Kosciusko County Prosecutor Charles Waggoner said Christofeno was called in on the case because the fire occurred prior to Waggoner's tenure and there were some "questionable issues" on which he felt he needed to bow out.
