An old VHS tape reveals a creepy mystery | Forensic Files

[Music] our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents if you feel at any
time you need support please contact your local crisis center for suggested phone numbers for confidential support
and for a more detailed list of content warnings please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our
website this episode was originally released on Case Files patreon Apple premium and Spotify Premium feeds as an
early bonus for our paid subscribers these episodes are designed to be slightly shorter allowing us to
cover a broader range of cases to receive these episodes early and add free you can support case file on your
preferred platform Tuesday August 15 1989 was a very hot summers's day in California's Central
Valley Joseph Villa not his real name was driving near the 205 Highway in Stockton with his wife and son when
their car overhead it Joseph pulled over on a quiet side road and propped up the
car's bonnet to inspect the damage realizing it was too severe to fix without assistance Joseph decided he
and his son would walk to the nearest pay phone to call for help while his wife waited at the
car as the father and son headed down the dusty road in search of a phone the boy noticed an old military fatigue
jacket in a camouflage print crumpled on the ground a military style unit patch was crudely sewn on it he kicked at the
jacket and revealed an unmarked VHS cassette tape bundled underneath curious about what might be
on there and's dad took it with them to watch later at home The Villa family inserted
the videotape into their vcr and hit play they gathered around the television it appeared to contained
footage of a home movie whoever had shot it had done so outside at night most of their surroundings were
shrouded in darkness but in the center of the screen a short distance away from the cameraman was a single story ranch
house the entire building was on fire crackling sounds could be heard as the blaze overwhelmed The house's timber
frame the person behind the camera was clearly eager to record every second of the building's
destruction and male voice appeared in the background seemingly narrating the unfolding
disaster his voice was hared and his tone excited look at it look at it look at the
fire this is my domain my hell I call home m hell the whole sky is black with smoke that I will
destroy and or soul up the EV [Music] [Music] it seemed as though the person who had
filmed the fire was also the one responsible for starting it he began addressing somebody he called
Omar look at it Omar this is what I've been doing on week's vacation I said all done I said all
done soon Sirens could be heard as firefighters rushed to the scene their loud wailing noise seemed to prompt
neighborhood coyotes to Howl in reply the Unseen narrator behind the camera continued to narrate the
scene the fire department's trying to put it out what [Music] go now but remember me good night ladies
and gentlemen your house is next the tape then shifted to footage from the horror film A Nightmare on Elm
Street recorded straight off a televised airing it wasn't clear if The Inferno footage had been taped over the movie or
edit it in for a reason the Villa family were shocked and wasted no time in passing the tape along
to the authorities arson investigators at California's Department of Forestry took
responsibility for the case one of them went back to where the Villas had found the tape the fatigue jacket was still
there wrapped up inside the Garment were a few audio cassettes featuring heavy metal music
lying nearby was a single glove in the same camouflage print as the jacket the investigator also discovered
a small ceramic skull and a wooden pesle of the type used to grind and Crush herbs as it was 1989 investigators
suspected these latter two items suggested some kind of a cult connection throughout the 1980s and
early '90s many law enforcement agents in the United States were swept up in what later became known as the satanic
Panic a fear that groups of people who woried the Christian figure of the devil were committing crimes around the
country the investigators responsible for looking into the Stockton arsonist tape had noted the arsonist's frequent
references to hell and evil they suspected the ceramic skull was some kind of demonic Talisman and
the pesle might have been used used in Satanic rituals investigators just weren't sure
why the videotape had been left with the other items by the side of the road maybe the perpetrator had stashed them
there and intended to return or perhaps he felt a thrill at the thought of his work being discovered and wanted it to
be [Music] found the best hope investigators had of getting to the bottom of the case was to
review the tape for evidence the fact that the arsonist often spoke in a stage whisper made it
difficult to understand much of what he said so investigators watched the tape over and over again and painstakingly
crafted a transcript of the audio the repeated references to someone called Omar caught their
attention they theorized that maybe Omar was the arsonist's ter for the devil or
perhaps he even used a is slang for the police the idea that the arsonist could actually be saying Omar the German word
for grandmother was also floated but the most popular theories were that Omar was someone's name
possibly the owner of the house shown burning on the film investigators noted that on the
left side of the screen there was a white trailer by a neighboring property this suggested that the ranch house set
a light had actually been under construction at the time maybe Omar was the head of the building crew and the
arsonist was one of his laborers if the arsonist had been fired by Omar then that could point to a
motive of Revenge what they really needed to uncover was the property's location if they could pinpoint a
specific address then they would be on their way to solving the case investigators tried to zoom in on
the house house to see if a street name or number was visible but they were unable to spot
anything the arsonist had filmed the moment that firefighters arrived so the investigators also tried enhancing
footage of their truck perhaps they could see some kind of identification number or County name emblazoned on the
vehicle once again they had no success the property was a single story ranch house with two chimneys and it
appeared to have been under construction at the time it was burnt investigators combed through
reports of house fires in the region to see if anything fit the bill but found no
matches they began to wonder whether the blaze had even taken place in California the 205 Highway was just a
few yards from where the tape was found and it linked to several other major highways that stretched out across the
country investigators began to worry that they might never find the person responsible
for what they had dubbed the Omar fire this thought concerned more than one of them Frank Curry a fire captain at the
California Department of Forestry had been so disturbed by the footage of the tape that he'd struggled to sleep after
first watching it Doug Allen a law enforcement coordinator at the department feared
that the person responsible could go on to commit further more violent crimes he
was well aware that some criminals such as New York serial killer Son of Sam had
started their crime sprees with Arsen before moving on to murder Doug Allen quote I think the person who made this
videotape and is responsible for the fire will without a doubt in my mind continue to set fires and the person
needs to be apprehended and stopped before these fires become more [Music] destructive investigators spent a year
trying to figure out the location of the fire but finally accepted that they had
hit a dead end realizing that the media might be one way they could generate some leads
they approached the producers of the Prime Time television program Unsolved Mysteries as well as featuring story
about missing persons and unexplained paranormal phenomena the series explored unsolved
crimes viewers at home were encouraged to call in to the show's hotline with any information they might
have the show's producers were Keen to cover the Omar fire some of the case investigators including Doug Allen and
Frank Curry appeared on camera to discuss their concerns the show also depicted a
reenactment of how the the mysterious and disturbing videotape was found the episode aired on the night of
Wednesday September 19th 1990 as Zed Tarantino sat in his Redwood City Home approximately 80 Mi west of
where the Villa family had found the tape a wave of shock washed over him the house shown burning on his
television screen was the very same one that sat behind his own it had been under construction when the
fire spread more than 2 years earlier on August 15 1988 and was subsequently rebuilt although Ed had been aware of
the destructive Blaze the existence of a creepy video of the entire thing came as
a disturbing surprise he called the Unsolved Mysteries hotline Ed wasn't the only viewer who
recognized the property bill otterly was a contractor who'd struggled with constructing a
house back in the summer of 1988 the residents here had been building was a 4200 ft home in Redwood
City's Emerald Lake Hills neighborhood it was an expensive undertaking with the house valued at
$850,000 just after the home's plywood walls were put up the entire thing was burned down
under the cover of night when Bill discovered what had happened he had sat by the destroyed shell of a
house and cried the house was rebuilt and during the second attempt at Construction Bill
had paid an employee to stand guard over it at night as Bill watched Unsolved Mysteries
air footage of the fire that had stomped arson investigators over in Stockton he
recognized the house being destroyed by Flames he was watching his own property burn to the
ground in the days after the episode aired the team at Unsolved Mysteries received a record breaking 1600 phone
calls some offered theories about where the patch sewn on the fatigue jacket had
originated from or what it signified others called in from all over the country to report house fires they
thought matched the one on the Stockton arsonist tape but it was the calls from the San
Mato County area that fascinated investigators the most 3 years earlier in the summer of
1987 the Emerald Lake Hills neighborhood near Redwood City began experiencing a spade of
fires all was started from gasoline and Molotov cocktails and as many as 30 Blazers were thought to be connected to
the attacks most of them burned out naturally before causing significant damage but several
had destroyed new homes that were under construction including one belonging to Bill
otterly Sano County investigators had a theory they believed the arsonist was angry at the development of what had
been a rural area a couple of years earlier Sano County had received Federal funding for
a new sew system which led to increased residential construction it had come at the perfect
time the county was in the heart of Silicon Valley which was rapidly growing alongside the technology companies based
there as more people moved to the area for work more homes were needed and the region began to
change San franciscans in search of space started to relocate to the quieter Redwood City and to Emerald Lake Hills
in November 1988 a 100-year-old cabin that was in the process of being turned into a luxurious house was burnt
down investigators discovered that the arsonist had scrolled a message on a wall
inside neighbors Revolt please no more new houses because the attacks had taken place across a 5 square mile area
authori struggled to pinpoint a suspect but now several years after the fires began it seemed that other
investigators in a neighboring County had found proof of the arsonist in the form of a disturbing
videotape as it happened investigators in San Mato County also had footage of the blaze that had destroyed Bill 's
house after setting up the command post and dispatching firefighters to put out the Flames the fire captain had set up a
video camera to film the entire thing for investigative and training purposes the recent outbreak of arson
attacks had meant capturing one on tape was more important than ever investigators were able to compare
the footage from the fire Captain's video to that on the cassette found by The Villa
family it confirmed that not only were they both of the same Blaze but that the firefighters had been standing just 50
ft away from the arsonist as he filmed his handiwork as well as helping pinpoint
the fire's location the involvement of Unsolved Mysteries led to another crucial
clue a woman named Doris Lance had also watched the episode as it de she too lived close to Bill 's house and she
remembered the fire well but that was wasn't the only thing that stood out to her about the creepy
footage the arsonists repeated references to someone called Omar caught Doris's attention she had a neighbor named
Omar he was a 17-year-old boy who lived with his family and had gotten into trouble on more than one
occasion Doris placed a call to investigators when the teenager was chased down and interviewed he quickly
broke down under questioning Omar explained that he had a friend who was 2 years older than him
the two of them had lit the fire together and filmed the entire thing Omar had remained silent as the
camcorder recorded everything his friend was the one who had narrated The Blaze Jason not his real name was 19
years old by the time he was brought to investigator's attention they placed him under
surveillance During the period when they were observing Jason the garage of his home happened to catch on fire and burnt
down as investigators combed through the rubble they found several interesting things there were knives and soars that
appeared to be stained with blood some mutilated animal remains a table where items had clearly being cut up and a
mask featuring the face of Freddy Krueger the villain from A Nightmare on Elm Street in the film The Spirit of Krueger
seeks revenge on a group of teenagers after their parents kill him by burning him alive in a boiler room they light
the fire with Molotov cocktails armed with the disturbing evidence recovered from Jason's garage
just over a week after the episode of Unsolved Mystery had investigators hauled the 19-year-old in for
[Music] questioning just like Omar Jason soon admitted to everything he confirmed that
he was behind the fire on the videotape and had filmed the entire thing to investigators Jason appeared to
be a very troubled young man at times he was Sullen and withdrawn but then he would start crying as he spoke about
what he had done armed with a search warrant investigators returned to Jason's home
in search of further Evidence they discovered that the tape found in Stockton wasn't the only one he
had made further tapes recovered from Jason's residence indicated he had followed news coverage of his
fires he had filmed a series of newspaper clippings that covered the arson attacks and pinned the Articles to
a wall there was also footage of black spray paint on a wall that read please no more
houses this was reminiscent of similar graffiti found at the 100-year-old cabin burnt down in November
1988 there were also more home movies that he'd made with Omar one showed Jason being filmed by
Omar from behind he had pulled his T-shirt up around the back of his neck to make it
look like he had a back and he curled his hands to resemble claws as Jason turned around to face the
camera he revealed that he was wearing a vampire mask he had painted an upside down cross
on his forehead and he snarled at the camera in a different clip Jason wielded a knife at a dummy which he addressed as
father after asking how the dummy was he said I hope you're doing real good then he stabbed it in the chest and used
the knife to slice off its head dressed as Dracula he gave a theatrical performance to the
camera I'm hungry tonight CU tonight is a night where all evil and satanic War shippers come where Satan rises again
and fulfills the destiny of hatred and evil and S another video showed Jason and Omar
playing violent War style games in a rural area presumably the Emerald Lake Hills
neighborhood while some investigators have said that the two had no motive for the fires they lit others have
speculated that they were upset by the development of a region they clearly enjoyed spending time in
authorities linked Jason and Omar to the burning of 11 buildings and 15 separate
grassfires in total their actions had caused more than $2 million in damage both suspects were tried as
minors due to their respective ages at the time of the fires Omar was sentenced to serve time
in a Juvenile Detention Facility while Jason was sent to a mental health hospital in the hopes he would receive
help and Rehabilitation their identities have never been released by authorities or
the media and it is not publicly known what became of them after their sentencing in the years since the
episode of Unsolved Mysteries made the Stockton arsonist case Infamous it has continued to generate discussion online
thanks mostly to the unsettling footage of the fire according to online sleuths who
allegedly discovered Jason's true identity he died in January 2017 at the age of
45 Jason had been walking along a highway in San Mato County when he tripped and stumbled onto the
road he was struck by a passing car and pronounced dead at the [Music] scene although the young man's fires
took place almost 90 M away from Stockton in an entirely different part of Cali California the case has remained
associated with the location where the tape was discovered it remains unclear how Jason
and Omar's tape ended up in a place so far away from their homes [Music] [Music]
[Music]

Case 280: The Stockton Arsonist

*** Content warnings: Animal cruelty *** On a hot summer’s day in 1989, a father and son travelling through Stockton, California, discover a VHS tape left by the side of a road. When they take it home and decide to watch it, they make a disturbing discovery. The tape contains footage of a house burning to the ground and was apparently filmed by the arsonist who lit the fire.

When investigators looking into the tape hit a series of dead ends, they enlist the help of popular television series Unsolved Mysteries, and the case becomes known as that of the infamous Stockton Arsonist.

CREDITS

Narration – Anonymous Host Research & writing – Erin Munro Creative direction – Milly Raso Production and music – Mike Migas Music – Andrew D.B. Joslyn

SOCIAL LINKS

Website https://www.casefilepodcast.com Facebook https://www.facebook.com/casefile Twitter https://twitter.com/case_file Instagram https://www.instagram.com/casefilepodcast Patreon https://www.patreon.com/casefile Casefile Presents https://casefilepresents.com

RESOURCES

For all credits and sources, please visit https://casefilepodcast.com/case-280-the-stockton-arsonist

Brief Summary

A family finds a disturbing tape of an arson, leading to the identification of two young perpetrators in California.

Key points

The Mysterious Videotape. A family discovers a disturbing videotape of a house fire, leading to an investigation.

Episode highlights

The Mysterious VideotapeA family discovers a disturbing videotape of a house fire, leading to an investigation.“Look at it, look at it, look at the fire!”3:10Apr 20, 2024

Episode quotes

I think the person who made this videotape... will continue to set fires.

Doug Allen's warning about the arsonist's potential for further violence.

10:45WatchApr 20, 2024

Tension

75/ 100High tension

More from Casefile

Solve the Crime

Read a real case one clue at a time, then see how your call held up against the investigators.