Editor’s note: For an update, read our latest story here.
An elderly woman was burned alive by a molotov cocktail attacking man as she rode the elevator to her fifth floor New York City apartment Saturday afternoon with grocery bags around her arms. The woman, tentatively identified by neighbors as a postal worker, was murdered sometime before 4:00 PM by a man whom she may have known, police say, in his forties. Her murder, one week before Christmas eve, took place at 203 Underhill Avenue in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, an area lauded for being ethnically-diverse, with tree-lined streets and many landmarked properties.
Describing the horrifficly gruesome attack, The New York Times notes that “in the beginning, it seemed routine: a man dressed as an exterminator, wearing gloves, with a protective mask perched atop his head and carrying a container on his back, takes the elevator to the fifth floor.”
Sometime later, an older woman carrying groceries took the same ride to the fifth floor.
Two cameras recording from different positions, one inside the small tiled elevator and another in a hallway, show the doors open and the man with the container approach. The man, who appeared to be in his 40s, first sprays the woman in the face, then douses her methodically from head to toe with what a city official said was an accelerant as she turned and cowered, raising her hands, the grocery bags hanging from her wrists.
Having cornered the woman in the elevator, the man struggles to light a barbecue lighter. He then ignites a Molotov cocktail — a wine or Champagne bottle filled with accelerant with a rag stuffed in its neck. He retreats and comes back again, spraying more liquid on his victim. And suddenly the silent video goes white with a conflagration in the small space: the woman, on fire.
…
While officials did not release the woman’s name on Saturday night, neighbors said they believed she was Delores Gillespie, though they were unclear as to the exact spelling of her first name. Ms. Gillespie was a postal worker, one neighbor said.
Residents were evacuated from the building after the fire. Hours later, some, like Maria Daley, wept while sitting on a city bus that had been provided for the displaced tenants. “She was my friend,†Ms. Daley said. “I just spoke to her yesterday.â€
Another neighbor, Heidi Matthews, 46, said Ms. Gillespie had given her a plant on Mother’s Day. “It’s hard to believe somebody would do that to her,†she said.
“We all loved her,†Ms. Matthews said. “She was a part of this neighborhood for years.â€
The New York Post adds,
Police think they know who did it, the witness told The Post.
“The cop told me, ‘We know exactly who did it and we have him on video,’†he said.
New York City has a relatively lower murder rate compared to other U.S. cities, based on 2010 crime statistics. The number of violent crime is less than a quarter of those in cities like Detroit and St. Louis.
Image: NYPD