Serial Killer Burns His 9th Victim Alive | Forensic Files

It's 3:30 a.m. in a neighborhood in the city of Akran. CCTV records a man in a jumpsuit walking up to a house. Seconds
later, what could only be a nightmare begins. 911. I got a fire going on avenue. It's fully
engulfed. I think there's people in the house. It's man. I can feel a beat. The lights are going
out. It's burning quick, man. If somebody's in there, they're dead, man. As the flames engulf the house, the
mysterious man [music] disappears into the night, leaving a trail of blood behind him.
Oh my god, hurry. Hurry, please. Oh Jesus, the whole house is on fire. As authorities were called to
investigate, they had no idea what they were stepping into. This would only be the beginning of a series of fatal fires
set by a vicious, cold-blooded killer, and detectives would soon find themselves racing against the clock as a
serial arsonist hunts for his next victims. The night of April 17th, 2016 was uneventful for 66-year-old Lindell
Lewis. He had just gone through a hip replacement surgery and was resting at his home on 719 Fault Street, being
looked after by Gloria Gene Hart, his girlfriend at the time. However, this night would be different. This night
would plunge the once peaceful city of Akran into sheer terror. In the early hours of April 18th, close to 3:33 a.m.
CCTV footage captured a man walking in the direction that led directly to Lindell's house. And moments later,
tragedy would strike the house of Lindel Lewis. Because he was in a hurry to escape, this first attempt at setting
the house on fire had failed and the flames died out, prompting the arsonist to make a return for a second time to
make sure he finished the job. At around 3:40 a.m., at approximately 3 [music] minutes after this second round of
dousing the house with what appears to be gasoline, a raging fire would swallow up the entirety of Lindell's house. This
was an early Monday morning and most people in Lane Worcester neighborhood were asleep preparing for work. No one
would have been awake to see who this masked arsonist was. More importantly, whoever this was was well aware of
Lindell's hip surgery as it had made him wheelchair ridden and unable to move. This meant that the fire was started
knowing that he would never be able to escape. And soon enough, 911 calls would begin pouring in as the fire raged on.
911. This is 7:25 next door. I can feel a beast. The lights are going out. It's burning quick, man. If somebody's in
there, they're dead, man. Get up there real quick. Hey, they're on their way. Presumably, Lindell and his girlfriend
were sleeping in their bedroom on the upper floor of the house when the fire initially began. Since the masked
arsonist ensured that the fire spread from the ground floor, this meant that by the time they woke up, because of the
heat and crackling of the fire, they had no escape. especially because Lindell was unable to move by himself. Gloria
most likely helped Lindell move from the bed and the couple retreated to their bedroom in an attempt to get as far away
as possible. But all this did was delay the inevitable. As firefighters and EMS arrived at the scene, the elderly couple
was heard screaming for help from inside their bathroom. Even with desperate [music] attempts to save them, it was
far too late. This gasoline fire was far too violent and the smoke was far too thick. Gloria Gene Hart and Lindell
Lewis were pronounced dead by the time they were discovered. A tragedy like this was unheard of in
Akran. Not only because of the fact that there was now an arsonist on the loose,
but because no one knew who his next victim would be. Because as it turns out, Lindell and Gloria were only two of
his nine victims to come. The hunt for this masked murderer was on, and soon enough, detectives had a lead. During
the night this fire occurred, the suspect had fled in this direction immediately after his second attempt.
This meant that whoever this was lived in this general vicinity. And considering this, the very first suspect
would be Stanley Ford. Stanley was a peculiar man. He often claimed to be a guardian sent by God and
would spend his days sleeping so he could stay awake at night to watch over the neighborhood. Additionally, Stanley
was also Lindell's neighbor, and the two had spent many years living next to each
other. This is why officers were certain that Stanley would react with sorrow when informed of Lindell's death. But
when a call was made telling him of the tragedy, something was off. I was calling to follow up with you about the
fire across the street. You know, because of the tumultuous history that you and the people in Lindell's house
had, everybody is thinking you, right? No, Tanisha, listen to me once again. I do not mess with these people up here. I
them them guys tried to get me to come on engage with them. Them guys was nasty. They was They had prostitutes in
and out all night. They was dealing with homosexuality. Them people was just bad
people. I didn't do nothing to them people. Them people were just mean. I mean, listen here. When they moved up
here, Tanisha, they stole everything that wasn't voted down. Well, Mr. Ford, this is my concern.
What's your concern? Is it how to make people believe that it wasn't you, Tanisha? You either take my word or you
don't. That's all I can tell. Well, we do have another option. What's that? A polygraph. [music]
Suspiciously, not only did Stanley refuse a polygraph test, but officers believed his reaction to be endorsing
Lindell's death rather than mourning it. This was likely because of a low in the
two's relationship that stemmed from their arguments about property boundaries and maintenance. However, in
all fairness, this case was not limited to Lindell alone. In fact, Stanley was infamous for often disputing with
neighbors when it came to property boundaries. All things considered, Stanley was only seen as a weird and
obnoxious neighbor rather than someone [music] who would burn a house down. For now, at least, he was not the most
prominent suspect. As detectives began to believe that the one responsible for this fire may have been someone inside
Lindell's house. The night the fire occurred, Lindell and Gloria were not the only ones in the
house. Thomas Huggley and Garrett were two of Lindell's friends who were going through tough times due to financial
constraints. [music] Lindell was kind enough to offer the two of them a place in the basement of his home.
Fortunately, Thomas escaped [music] before the fire could swallow up the basement. But Garrett, on the other
hand, just so happened to be somewhere else that night. By April 22nd, 2016, Akran detectives would call in Garrett
for an interview to find out what really happened. First, let me say that I hate having to
put you out there like that. [clears throat] Like all that was terrible. You guys, that's my first language. But
I was worried because they said you live down there and I hadn't seen or heard from you, so I waited.
Yeah, I was there. I was there. Uh earlier that day cuz I was over my auntie's house did a job for her.
Mhm. What's her name? Uh uh [ __ ] Uh Williams. I forgot her last name. She works across the street.
Okay. Now I ain't trying to, you know, stir your brain cuz the main reason I where I want to find you, make sure one
you safe and you okay? And if I I didn't know nothing about it until uh my sister then called me.
Mhm. And Mr. Uli called me and what what did they say? They said the house burning down, but
they didn't tell me nothing about nobody got hurt in it. Mhm. And then my best friend.
For detectives, it is definitely odd that Garrett is taking so long to remember the finer details, but this is
nothing conclusive as of now. However, they are confident that by poking deeper, they might be able to find some
clues. Have you heard about anybody who got to be for him? Oh, uh, no. Not that I know of.
Now, what was that thought you just had? Never that I know. Nobody know. That don't seem like the truth. It seem
like you choking on the truth RIGHT NOW. I SAID, "OH, I don't know, man. Cuz I didn't know the people he knew."
Not It's obvious you just had a thought. Do you just not want to speak cuz all of
us in here? Or No, you not want to speak cuz you HAD THE POLICE. YOU DEFINITELY HAD A THOUGHT RIGHT
THERE. All I know is they supposed to have a a retraining order in that guy because the tree, you know, stand
something. That's all I knew. Stanley's name has once again crept into the conversation. In fact, rumors about
Lindell and Stanley's conflicts had already spread like wildfire, and he was on his way to becoming suspect number
one. But for detectives, this could mean anything. Stanley would alternatively be
the most suitable for Garrett to pin his crimes on, a neighbor with a god complex
who had frequent conflicts with Lindell. Furthermore, Garrett has not given any details about his alibi. All we know is
that during the night of the fire, he was at his aunt's house and was spending time with his niece. This is why
detectives would not let up putting pressure on Garrett. You're the only person that a gave a
scenario and that kind of made me suspicious. scenario of of anything that you might have heard
or thought. You're the only one. But I don't I don't know nothing. I wasn't there.
I would I KNOW YOU WEREN'T THERE. I would have been there in a couple days. You you you weren't there, but you're
the only one. All right, let's do it this way. The night of the fire, the night that
happened, I was at my least house. What time did you get there? I don't know what time we got there.
Was it light outside or was it dark? I don't know. We're investigated. What can I say?
We was Who were you with? Me and my niece. And what time did you leave there? The next day, I think.
What time did the fire happened? I don't know. Tell me it was 3:00 in the morning. I
don't know. Let me ask you this question. Would you go to the funeral today? Yes.
Yes. You know what time it is? It's probably 10:00. That's what you say. I'm going to say this. I'm just going to
go on straight with you. But I the the gut feeling I got is that you have some names swirling in
your head you just don't want to give them cuz you don't want to get I don't know him
right I don't know them people socialize with them people we need your help we're asking for your
help I know I understand that I just don't really know much man but man they protected me when I on the football
field ID you down and they they made it happen for me. They say we hold you down, too. Oh my god,
they was good guys. For detectives, this was perplexing. A suspect that was willing to cry for his
dead friend and housemate, yet had no solid story for where he was on that day, created a contradicting situation.
No matter what, detectives cannot be certain that Garrett is the arsonist. So they would slowly push him towards a
polygraph test, claiming it's the only way to prove his innocence. Let's see if we can't get sucker but to
come in and schedule a polygraph. Okay. I'll call you and he got we got a polygraph here. We're going to bring him
in here and he's going to schedule it with you. Set up an appointment. Oh my god. This [music]
I'm about to have a [ __ ] dinner. Listen, man. We're trying to help here. We're not
I know I if I can help you out with it. Well, if you need to get some off your chest and let let us know something that
you know you will feel a whole lot better cuz you are our key to the information ABOUT WHO'S
Y'ALL on me. I was because you lived in the house for 2 years. Yeah, but I was never there on
this. And you're saying that you don't know or have heard anything about it? I was not going over the years.
The car fire happened in 2013 and you were in the house. You have no clue of who may have started.
You say nobody gave any names? No. No scenarios, no theories, no nothing. It's just not plausible, sir.
I mean, that that's that just goes on in all conversation. Who do you think did this? I don't know.
Even though Garrett just agreed to the polygraph, just moments later, he would have second thoughts.
Mr. Garrett is our father. He's You're saying you want to take a polygraph? Well, take a photography.
You just said you would. You said while we at it, let me take a photograph. I didn't say that.
I said I would if I said I would if I needed to. [clears throat] It's coming down to a knee.
All right. Yes, sir. Yes, it is. Okay. Go ahead and talk to the sergeant here. He'll explain. I mean, is that something
that you'd be willing to do is take a polygraph? No. That ain't working. Why are they Why is
that working like that? You follow? Usually, suspects are never legally obligated to undergo a polygraph test.
Even if they did, these tests are not presentable in court due to a lack of accuracy and reliability since results
are affected by several factors like anxiety and mental and physical health. And with Garrett's insistence that he is
innocent and was not at Lindell's house often, detectives are stuck with no other suspects. Their only remaining
choice was Stanley Ford, the self-proclaimed neighborhood guardian. But at this point, this was more of a
gut feeling for detectives as they could not put up a plausible case against him
for an arrest. In their eyes, many suspects were just as suspicious as Stanley, if not more. This meant the Ark
and arsonist was still on the loose [music] and maybe these investigations had scared him because things seemed to
settle [music] down. For the entirety of 2016, there were no more fires and most
began to forget about the incident. However, this piece would soon come to an end. On January 23rd, 2017, someone
set fire to a vehicle on 723 Russell Avenue, just a few blocks away from the first fire. The next two months would be
another wave of silence from the arsonist until May 15th, 2017, when close to 3:00 a.m., Lane Worcester
neighborhood was given another rude awakening. Multiple people are dead after a house fire in [music] Akran this
morning and at least some were children. The Akran Fire Department says the home
was fully engulfed when they arrived. The heat was so high a staircase [music] melted away. The exact number of victims
has not been released. A fire on 693 False Avenue had resulted in the death of seven people.
35-year-old Dennis Huggin and 38-year-old Angela Bogs, along with their five children, aged [music]
between 16 months and 14 years. This was the second major fire after the Lindell
home was burned to a crisp 13 months prior. The fire had started in trash cans placed at the front of the house
and spread [music] quickly through the porch into the home. However, this was no accident. According to a forensic
analysis, an accelerant identified as gasoline was dumped into the cans. The flames were intense and enveloped the
house within seconds. There was no room for escape. And just like the first fire, all seven victims were found
huddled [music] in corners of the home as they had been trapped by the smoke and flames. The bodies had [music] been
burned so badly that the only way to identify them was through a DNA test. This was a tragedy, but compared to the
first fire, finding the suspect this time wouldn't be hard, as there were only two options. The first was Patrick
Bogs, who had a bit of history with Angela Bogs, the mother of the children in this fire. Patrick Bogs served 12
years in prison for dowsing Angela and kerosene [music] and threatening to set her on fire in 2001. He was a violent
man and had even tried to stab someone, making him a very plausible suspect. But
even with his past, Patrick was quickly discarded as cameras provided he had never left his home in Ohio. More
importantly, an extensive [music] polygraph test proved that Patrick was telling the truth about not being
involved in this crime. However, his role in these murders wouldn't end here, as we'd later find out. For now, the
only remaining suspect was a familiar face, one that was a common denominator in both fires, Stanley Ford. And this
time, officers were prepared to gather a mountain of evidence against him. They treat me like I'm a suspect, man.
I'm not a suspect. The first step was to obtain a search warrant for Stanley's home, which would
result in a crucial piece of evidence being found. Worn out tennis shoes that had been covered in an accelerant. An
accelerant that just so happened to be gasoline. But the evidence wouldn't end here. One of the detectives would decide
to have a one-on-one conversation with Stanley in his car. And what he says would be nothing short of disturbing.
Sound [ __ ] deal. No, listen. Listen what I'm saying to you. This is so wrong. Listen what I'm saying
to you. Embarrassing to my neighbor. Listen what I'm saying. You mentioned some things last night
about there some bad people at the house or Well, to to me, I thought they was bad
people. They the stuff they was just doing immature stuff in the neighborhood like what
[ __ ] uh kicking the uh vehicles rearview mirrors busting them out and stuff like
that. Is that a good way to get rid of somebody moving out the neighborhood and get rid of that?
No, I would I wouldn't do that. I wouldn't do it like that. Why would I do that? I wouldn't do it at all. I ain't
going to set somebody on fire just to to get them out of the neighborhood. That's that that that ain't that ain't
that ain't godly, man. That ain't I don't know that that ain't human nature. Really? Yeah,
that's evil. That's pure evil. Man, I'm not evil, man. Yet another instance of Stanley Ford
justifying not only the deaths of the couple, but of their five innocent little children, too. Just like in the
murder of Lindell Lewis, there was a pattern, a pattern of pure hatred towards the victims. A pattern so
disgusting that Stanley felt it was his god-given right to purge [music] anyone who upset the guardian of the
neighborhood. In this case, Stanley often accused the family of dealing drugs, damaging his property, and
engaging in illegal activities, which only fueled his hatred towards them. Several neighbors had witnessed heated
exchanges between the couple and Stanley leading up to the fire. Not only that, but the night of the fire, neighbors
mentioned how they saw Stanley continuously patrolling the house. This would be corroborated by CCTV footage
that would not only catch Stanley walking towards the house right before the fire, but also running away from it
after. If all of this was not compelling enough, there would be one last piece of
evidence that would solve the mystery of the Arkan arsonist. Take a look at this
footage from the 2016 fire of Lindell's home. Now, matching this with the footage from the 2017 fire and matching
both with the footage from when police spoke with Stanley in the neighborhood, there is one correlation. The way the
suspect walks is exactly the same as Stanley's stride. Without a doubt, Stanley was the one responsible for the
cold-blooded murders of nine people. Officers were now certain of this and soon enough Stanley was called in for an
interview to be confronted with his sick crimes. We want to talk to you. I want you to be
honest with me. Okay. This is [snorts] not about today. Let's go back to the fire.
Okay. I mean, what can you tell us about the fire? I don't have no knowledge of that. So, what's the point? You know,
sometime I explain to him, you know, I exercise some Charlie horses, right? Sometimes I walk the street and bang,
you know what I mean? Something like that. But uh I ain't I ain't do that far, man. In the face of these denials,
detectives decide that enough is enough. No matter what, they need a confession out of Stanley. And the best way to do
that is to show him all the evidence that points towards him being the arsonist.
Got you running back to the house. Mhm. That's diamond fire. Okay. We got you running to the house. You're not asleep.
You are. You're on the cameras now. We got you. You're on the [laughter] camera. We got
you. You're I It's time to come. It's time. It's time to come, man. Yeah, we know the answers. Okay. Right. But I
ain't running from I running from no fire. Okay. You walk you you're seen you seen
the fire. Okay. I'm not at the fire. No. No. No. I'm not at no fire. I'm at the fire. I'm at a fire.
Yeah, you're at the fire. We need to hear your side of the story. I'm being honest, man. I [laughter]
didn't do anything. I mean, I can't I can't get to somebody did that. I don't have I got too much to lose, man. We got
all the pieces. We know the answers. This is what we want to know. Is there some
reasoning or some kind of something that happened? Somebody piss you over. Somebody do something to maybe maybe why
send a message I'm not walking there. I WOULD LET NOBODY walk back from the house. I didn't do that.
Hell yeah. I'm tell you. Okay. Got you. Got you. Often a suspect will refute their crimes
even in the presence of concrete evidence as this would still give them a fighting chance in court. In this case,
Stanley is doing exactly this. And no matter what detectives say, he won't be cracking anytime soon. Y'all believe
that I did it. No. We prove that you I didn't do that. I wouldn't dare to did that, man. How you want me to explain
your charges to you or you [clears throat] didn't do it? I'm serious. I didn't do it. I'm not going
to meant to that. I didn't do it. If I did, I meant to it. I didn't do that. Let me explain your charge. Go ahead.
Okay. You have seven counts of aggravated murder. However, this would be far from the end of Stanley's saga.
Because he never admitted to [music] anything and had a history of being mentally unstable, there was a chance
that he could get away completely scot-free in court due to his mental status being absolved of all his crimes.
Hence.

This video covers the case of Stanley Ford, and his terrors across Akron, Ohio.

This video was made for educational purposes only. The video is presented to provide genuine footage of police incidents to promote transparency in government while providing educational, informative and newsworthy content allowing viewers to examine and assess public safety material. This is a fact-checked documentary using authoritative sources. The individuals shown in this video have not been convicted of any crime and are legally presumed innocent unless proven otherwise in a court of law. This material is intended solely for educational and informational purposes and represents personal analysis and commentary. Nothing presented should be interpreted as legal counsel, and the observations provided may not include all circumstances or reflect the final charges in each case. This video features real police-related footage shared to support public awareness and government transparency. The content is designed to inform and educate viewers on public safety matters and is presented as a documentary relying on verified and credible sources. All materials used were lawfully obtained through public records requests and are available to the public. The footage is utilized strictly for journalistic, documentary, and educational purposes under the Fair Use doctrine outlined in Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act.**

Brief Summary

Akran's arsonist kills nine, including children, as detectives pursue suspects Stanley Ford and Garrett.

Key points

Akran's Nightmare Begins. A fire in Akran leads to a chilling discovery of a serial arsonist.
Tragic Loss of Lindell and Gloria. The elderly couple becomes victims of a brutal arson attack.
Stanley Ford's Alibi. Stanley Ford, a neighbor, becomes a prime suspect in the arson case.
The Evidence Against Him. Detectives reveal surveillance footage of Stanley near the crime scene.
Stanley's Denial. Despite overwhelming evidence, Stanley insists he didn't commit the crimes.
Mental Instability Defense. Stanley's mental health history may allow him to evade justice.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

This night would plunge the once peaceful city of Akran into sheer terror.

Describing the impact of the fire on the community.

1:27WatchAug 18, 2024

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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