Barber and Two Accomplices Charged in Fatal Arson Plot Using Hand Sanitizer; Firefighter Killed in Blaze
Police say the owner of a barbershop in Chicago planned a plot to burn down his business, which killed a fireman.
In connection with the April 2023 fire, 47-year-old Anthony Moore is being charged with wire fraud, insurance fraud, and forgery. The Chicago Police Department says that 37-year-old Nicholas Virgil and 22-year-old Martez Cristler are being charged with murder and setting the fire. They are charged of killing Jermaine Pelt, a firefighter from Chicago.
Attorneys for the city told WLS that Moore bought a house on the 12000 block of S. Wallace St. on the south side of the city. The news source said that he reportedly bought insurance, lied that the building was occupied, and had Virgil and Cristler burn it down.
The Chicago Sun-Times claimed that Moore could face more charges if investigators can show that he and the other two men worked together to get the insurance money.
WMAQ, an NBC station, said the fire began around 3:30 a.m. on April 4, 2023. Pelt was using a hose to put out the fire in a nearby building when things quickly got worse and the teams were told to go outside. But Pelt fell just as the order went out. He was quickly saved by firefighters, who took him to the hospital right away. The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office told WMAQ that Pelt died of carbon monoxide poisoning from breathing in smoke and soot.
Police told the judge that Moore bought the building in 2021 and then bought a $400,000 insurance policy. He told the insurance company that he had rented out the building, but investigators told the Sun-Times that it was not fit for people to live in.
The criminals used hand sanitizer as an accelerant, the police later found out, according to the news source. It is said that detectives found two empty two-liter bottles behind Moore’s barbershop. Reports say Moore was in touch with the two accused arsonists on Moore’s cell phone a lot on the night of the fire. Authorities say that Virgil and Cristler’s cars were also caught on cameras in the area.
When these people were charged, Chicago cops said, “We hope that this brings some peace of mind to his family.”
Pelt, who was 49 years old, had worked for the police since 2005. WMAQ said he was a father of two and had just walked his daughter down the aisle at her wedding.