Keller Charged In 3 Arson Deaths

Convicted serial arsonist Paul Keller was charged today with three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of three elderly women in a fire set in the Four Freedoms Retirement Home in North Seattle last year.

Keller, who had not been publicly linked to the Four Freedoms fire before, also was charged with two counts of arson, one for allegedly setting the retirement home afire and another for allegedly setting a fire that destroyed a building in the 2400 block of Northwest Market Street in Ballard two hours later, according to King County prosecutor Norm Maleng. Both fires were set Sept. 22, 1992.

Victims in the retirement-home fire included Bertha Nelson, 93, and Mary Dorris, 77. Both died of smoke inhalation in a third-floor hallway. Their deaths were classified as homicides.

The third victim, Adeline Stockness, 70, suffered a seizure and was found by firefighters on the lanai of her fourth-floor unit.

She later died of a heart attack the King County medical examiner said was brought on by the fire.

Eight other residents were hospitalized for smoke inhalation, and 32 were treated by medics at the scene.

The fire in the seven-story structure in the 700 block of North 135th Street near Bitter Lake caused $1 million damage. There were 350 residents, average age 80, residing at the home.

"Every victim has a right to justice," Maleng said at a news conference this afternoon, explaining why the murder charges are

being pressed against Keller.

Under his present 75-year sentence, Keller could be out of prison in 50 years with good behavior. If he is convicted of all three murders, however, he faces a sentencing range of 103 to 137 years behind bars, Maleng said.

Authorities allege that Keller was drinking in Everett and in Seattle the night of the Four Freedoms fire. They believe he set that fire, the Ballard fire and a third fire in a home on Queen Anne that night.

Seattle police homicide detectives allege that Keller stuffed newspapers and magazines under an overstuffed chair and couch in the third-floor lobby of the retirement home and lit them.

Clothing in a third-floor laundry room, adjacent to the lobby, also was ignited, detectives believe. An employee of the retirement home saw Keller get on an elevator in the lobby of the home 20 minutes before the fire was reported, Maleng said..

Seattle police homicide detectives, armed with charging papers and an arrest warrant, left today for the Clallam Bay Correctional Facility, where Keller is serving a 75-year prison term.

Keller will be returned to King County for trial. He is expected to be arraigned next week.

The fire, reported at 8:06 p.m., at first was classified by Seattle fire investigators as accidental, believed caused by smoking materials left in overstuffed furniture in the third-floor lobby.

Early this year, however, the Seattle Fire Department arson squad took another look at evidence from the fire scene and turned it over to the Sno-King Arson Task Force investigating 113 fires they believed to be the work of a serial arsonist.

A second fire set the night of the retirement-home blaze destroyed a building containing three businesses in the 2400 block of Northwest Market Street. Investigators later linked that fire to Keller. The loss was $300,000.

Fire Chief Claude Harris said the lobby furniture of the Four Freedoms home contained large quantities of polyurethane plastic, which burns slowly and produces large amounts of dense smoke.

Keller pleaded guilty last spring to starting 32 fires beginning Aug. 6, 1992, and admitted to, but was not charged with, 44 others. The fires were in Snohomish, King, Pierce and Kittitas counties.

Last month Keller admitted setting another fire that caused $8.3 million damage to the Freighthouse Square shopping mall in Tacoma on Sept. 17, 1992.

He told investigators he started that fire because he couldn't find a toy-train store.

Keller will not be charged with that fire, Tacoma's largest arson ever, according to an agreement by which he agreed to discuss the fire.

In a video interview recorded after his arrest, Keller said he was not a criminal and did not intend to hurt anyone. He blamed his fire setting on alcoholism, saying he randomly started fires when he stopped to urinate.

----------------------- THE FOUR FREEDOMS FIRE: ----------------------- -- What: $1 million fatal fire at Four Freedoms Retirement Home in

North Seattle. -- When: Fire reported at 8:06 p.m. on Sept. 22, 1992 -- Who: Three women died: Bertha Nelson, 93; Mary Dorris, 77; and Adeline Stockness, 70. -- Where: 747 N. 135th St., just east of Bitter Lake. -- Charged: With first-degree murder, convicted serial arsonist Paul Keller of Everett. -- Circumstances: Authorities originally thought fire accidental. Closer examination showed it was arson.