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Tina Fineberg / AP
Five people were killed in a fire at this house on Christmas Day in Stamford, Conn.
The Connecticut state attorney has determined that no criminal charges should be filed in connection with a fire in Stamford on Christmas Day that killed a couple and their three granddaughters.
“This is not a decision made easily or lightly. In a tragedy of this magnitude, it is understandable that both the people affected by it personally and the public at large need to find that someone is responsible, that it is not just a senseless accident," David Cohen, the state’s attorney, stated in a report released Friday morning.
"However, my determination must be based solely on whether there is sufficient evidence to hold someone criminally responsible," he added.
The two other people present in the house when the fire broke out, the children's mother and her boyfriend, were able to escape.
For more, visit NBCConnecticut.com
In his report, Cohen said the investigation was hampered by actions of some Stamford officials.
He said the local fire marshal should have notified the State Fire Marshal’s Office and given them an opportunity to assist with the investigation, so that a second opinion about the cause and origin of the fire could be obtained.
Man died trying to save granddaughter in Conn. fire
Cohen also recommended that both the Police Department and the State’s Attorney’s Office be consulted before any demolition is authorized and carried out.
Sometime between 3 a.m. and 3:30 a.m. on Christmas Day, Michael Borcina, who is described as the mother's boyfriend, is believed to have put fireplace ashes in a bag and left it either in or outside a mudroom and trash enclosure attached to the rear of the house, said Barry Callahan, Stamford's fire marshal. The fire was reported just after 4:40 a.m.
"The fire entered the house quickly and spread throughout the first floor and up two interior vertical openings, trapping the occupants on the upper floors," Callahan said.
There were plans for hard-wired smoke alarms, but they had not been hooked up, an official said. The home was demolished soon after the fire because of the damage and safety concerns.
Smoke detectors inside a Stamford, Conn., home where five people were killed in a Christmas morning fire may not have been working, investigators say. NBC's Craig Melvin reports.
"I am aware that many have emotionally judged this circumstance differently. That is understandable. There is no way that I could begin to conceive of the depth of loss by the Badger family,” Cohen wrote.
Insurer balks at claims in Christmas fire that killed 3 girls, grandparents
"However, where so much is unknown or in dispute, where the facts are inconclusive and where the safety of the public will not be enhanced, I have decided to exercise the discretion given to me by our State constitution and by my oath of office and decline, at this time, to prosecute,” he concluded.
Lomer Johnson, the children's grandfather, had appeared as Santa at Saks Fifth Avenue's flagship store in Manhattan. His daughter, homeowner Madonna Badger, a New York City ad executive, survived along with Borcina, who was staying with her while helping remodel the Victorian house.
Hundreds gather for funeral for 3 girls killed in fire
The girls' father, Matthew Badger, started a project that supports underfunded elementary school arts programs in memory of his daughters.
NBCConnecticut.com contributed to this report.
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Leave a Comment:
The mother and her boneheaded "boyfriend" are responsible for the deaths of those lovely children and their grandparents, period. Who puts fireplace ashes in a bag and leaves them inside? May the mother and her cretin "boyfriend" never have a moment's peace for the rest of their pathetic lives.
I hope your comment is quickly deleted. Your comment is absolutely despicable, to blame the mother. You are far far from the perfect person you seem to think you are.
@Carla, how can you be so callous, so judgemental, and so mean-spirited? i bet your head is like a REALLY bad neighborhood that no one wants to go...and i am sure with your ill thinking, YOU never get a moment's peace...shame on you...
A spade is a spade, Carla is 100% correct.
Agreed. And I can honestly say my child will never die in a fire without me dying to save her.
What the tattered remains of this family needs most, now, is peace and understanding from the general public. Innuendo and unfounded allegations only insult the memory of these children and their grandparents.
Recriminations and 'spinning' of the facts from what was clearly a very tragic accident and carelessness (which is human, not criminal) will not change anything.
It is time for the Monday morning quarterbacks among us to leave these people alone, to allow them to grieve and to heal their very deep emotional wounds (a struggle which, unfortunately, they will endure for the remainder of their lives, as anyone who has suffered the loss of a child can understand).
I wish them peace, and understanding, and an abundance of caring and goodwill.
Jill-3090700, you have no idea what you are talking about. This poor mother was physically restrained by firefighters as she wailed and struggled to get back in the house. She also tried to commit suicide in recent months. How easy it is for you to sit at your desk and judge this woman who lost everything. We all make dumb mistakes sometimes, as her boyfriend did, but luckily we don't always pay for our mistakes with our lives, or the lives of our loved ones, and that is just luck.
not sure if anyone else is aware of the couple overseas that had 6 children die in a house fire. Someone supposedly put a flammable liquid in their door and set it afire. Public sentiment for the couple was at an all-time high until police charged the parents.
Finally, a judge who has common sense. Yes, the boyfriend is the person responsible for the fire. He is a stupid idiot. Who puts ashes from a fire in a paper page in the first place, and then leaves the bag anywhere in or near the house? However, it was a mistake!!! Surely he had no intention of starting a fire, especially considering the fact that he was still in the house. One can't charge anyone for being stupid or most of the population would be in prison.
I'm certainly glad he qualified the above statement with;
It's nice to know that the prosecutor isn't bowing to public pressure or media manipulation to prosecute someone. "Just the facts mam, just the facts"... it seems too many prosecutors now only worry about public perceptions and how it will affect their future political agenda.
Congratulations Mr. Cohen. You understand you have to prosecute crime and not stupidity.... however tragic the result of that stupidity might be.
Exactly. This is how lawyers have to behave. The question is not whether or not someone committed a crime; it's whether the evidence supports a conviction. Especially in cases where fire is present, since we've learned how incredibly wrong expert witnesses have been in determining the cause of fires.
From everything I have read about this tragedy, the prosecutor made the correct decision. There is no such crime on the books as criminal stupidity and that is what we are dealing with here. The boyfriend did not intend to start a fire, so there was no arson involved. He just made a monumentally stupid mistake in putting hot fireplace ashes in a paper bag and leaving it anywhere near the house. The only other question is whether or not they should have been living in the house with the state the renovations were in but there does not appear to be any law to prevent it. Connecticut is in the process of passing a law to require smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in all residences but at the time of the fire no such law was on the books in the state.
Oh, I guess I didn't realize that a COMMENTS section was only for one point of view...for God's sake people, we are all entitled to our own opinion, get over it. "Contractor" puts fireplace ashes into a bag and leaves them in a house with no working smoke detectors. Hmm, would one of you hire this "professional" to do work around your own home?
Evidently the guy was not a fireman. He would have known better. Smoldering ashes will burn nearby wood and that Victorian house was wood everywhere. It looked like a firetrap to me....but I have this natural built-in ability to see a potential fire issue. Maybe I should be a fireman. Many people are clueless and never see the potential problems.
Anyone here still foolish enough to smoke in bed?
Loser mother suffered from low self esteem that turned into a full blown midlife crisis. She then dumps her loving husband and shacks up with a total loser boyfriend, who foolishly put hot ashes from the fireplace into bags in the sunroom. The loser boyfriend ends up killing her 3 children and both her parents. No doubt she will dump the loser boyfriend and ends up with God because, that is all she can do to make herself feels worthy. Midlife crisis strikes again.
You are cruel and pass judgement on people you likely have no personal information about. We do not know what went on in the lives of these people but it is obvious the fire was an accident as the boyfriend did not think the ashes would ignite and burn the house down. Perhaps her relationship with him was a good one. She is an intelligent woman able to make her own decisions. It was not her fault the ashes ignited the house. She has lost so much so please, give her a break. She does not need crucifixion from strangers....I feel sure, she is in major pain without your help.
How do you know he was a loving husband??? By his own admission, Matthew Badger said he DESERVED to be dumped!! I blame Madonna Badgers ex-boyfriend for the accident. It was HE who improperly disposed of the ashes, not her!
No one ever intends for things like this to happen. How many times have you, Carla, done something that wasn't too smart, but you got away with it and so everything was OK. Texted or chatted on the cellphone while driving? Ridden a motorcycle without a helmet? Had a couple too many drinks and got behind the wheel? Gone swimming where there was a rip current? People do these things ALL the time, and a few die--the ones who don't just shrug it off. I can't in any way condemn the mother of these children for this accident. The boyfriend--yes, he was a dope and it was awful. But let's see those of you without sin casting the first stone.
Sorry Robbie but it's unlikely you have any idea whether the husband she left was loving or a wife beater. You truly are a robot. Better to remain silent and have people suspect you're an idiot that to speak and remove all doubt.
I agree. The mother and her boyfriend are responsible for those deaths.
If he was any kind of a contractor he would not have let those people sleep on the 3rd floor of an old house that was being remodeled and have no good way of escape.
If I were the father of those girls I would still sue them both in court on any grounds I could dig up.
For God's sake....it was an accident. Accidents do happen that kill many people. It was an error to put these hot ashes in a container near the house. A simple and horrible error but there is absolutely no criminal intent there. I know the mother is dying without her girls and her boyfriend had no clue the house would burn and kill them all. I am sure he loved these girls as well. These poor surviving people are all in agony trying to survive the death of the family so to prosecute an innocent and reckless person would be a waste of time and money. The poor man has to be in hell for his mistake, so let him be.
Alumette: It was not an accident, it was sheer idiocy and negligence. He did not "...put these ashes in a container near the house," he put them in a paper bag and left it in the mudroom. If that's an "accident", then so is driving drunk, smoking in bed, texting while driving...etc.
Some of the comments here beg the question: if the contractor was not the mother's boyfriend, would you be as sympathetic to this "accident"?
No one is sympathetic merely because the contractor was the mother's boyfriend. You are not taking into account that any other contractor who was hired by the family would not be removing ashes from the fireplace in the first place because he wouldn't be living with family or working on the house on Christmas Day.
Actually, I think it's the opposite. People have been very cruel because the contractor was the mother's boyfriend. Had the mother been alone, I think people would be more sympathetic.
There are some stories that folks should not be allowed to comment on. This is one of them.
I agree, Pablo. This really brings the self-righteous out of the baseboards.
Except you of course. You are commenting, right?
No one is crimminally responsible but the father and mother are suing the city?
Please explain that one.
Not to good with reading comprehension, right, harry?
The article mentions nothing about the boyfriend (not father) and mother suing the city. This is regarding deciding whether to prosecute anyone (the boyfriend) for starting the fire. The children's father is not even mentioned except to say that he started a project that supports underfunded elementary school arts programs in memory of his daughters.
Harry, this is the first I've heard such a thing. What does the lawsuit state? Is it due to the fact that the house was demolished immediately (wasn't it within 2 days?), instead of allowing for a 2nd opinion/investigation of the fire to take place? If there is a lawsuit, I'm sure there is a reason for it.
Harry, I don't see that stated in the story. Where did you get that idea?
Harry's right - the mother IS suing the city of Stamford. I live in Connecticut and it just hit the news this past week that she is suing.
They are not suing the city because of the fire; they are suing the city because Stamford had the building demolished the day after the fire, thus destroying any potential evidence about the fire. The state of CT has issued a serious criticism to the city of Stamford for this action.
Actually, I think the the father has grounds for a wrongful death suit. The whole thing smells. One would think that with the fire alarms down, one would be extra careful with the ashes. I've worked on old homes like that for 23 years, and I can tell you with conviction that I am constantly worried about lighting them up whenever I am soldering, and I always have an adequate extinguisher. And the whole cleaning the fireplace at 3:30 AM on Christmas morning is kind of queer as well. After all the wrapping, assembling toys and what not is done, the last thing on my mind would be, "Hey, it's a great time to clean the fireplace!"
And what about putting smoldering embers in a BAG? Was the man that devoid of any common sense?
Family friend cleaned out the fireplace, put the ashes into a paper bag and left the bag on the stairs by the front door. Then she went to run errands.
Fortunately, no one was home when the house burned down.
Accidents do happen.
What I read recently in a local paper is that the mother and contractor testified to the police that the fire was burned over Christmas eve afternoon and they let it die out in the early evening. About 7 hours later, the contractor/boyfriend cleaned out the fireplace and both the mother and he put their hands in the ashes to test that they were cool before discarding them. The ashes did not appear to be smoldering. Obviously, they were wrong, and they should have left the ash in the fireplace, but they did think about it and were trying to make sure the ashes were dead. They cleaned out the fireplace that late because the kids were worried about Santa landing in a hot fireplace. Very, very sad.
Terelyn, stupidity happens. I'm a former volunteer firefighter; we went to a woman's house 3 times in one year because she dumped hot ashes in the shrubs around her house. The Fire Chief told her the third time, "If you really want to see me this badly, just give me a call, there's no reason to keep setting your house on fire." He was being sarcastic.
Only an idiot would put ashes in a paper bag, much less leave them indoors. Your friend was going out the door and she left ashes in a bag on the stairs!? Why didn't she just take the ashes out when she left the house? I hope her insurance company didn't give her a dime.
Does anyone honestly believe the man who disposed of the ashes thought they were still smoldering? I'm sure he felt 100% sure they were out. Come on, guys.
The mother's boyfriend was definitely negligent, just not criminally so. Was he drunk, though? If mom is still dating him, throw them both in jail.
You should never put ashes in any type of bag and if you must then pour water over the ashes. I'm shocked this contractor did not know this. It's common sense.
Although it would be the safe thing to do, I don't think that anyone is going to pour water over ashes in a fireplace, nor would they do it when the ashes are in a paper bag.
It was stated in an earlier article that the children were worried about Santa not being able to get down the chimney with the fire going. He took the ashes out - probably in haste as it was 3AM. I know I've done things in a rush for my kids that were probably really stupid. We've just been fortunate.
My heart still goes out to the family and and all their friends. As a mother, I am so deeply saddened by this story. I hope the girls' mother will see that there is still so much beauty and love in the world --- enough to continue but maybe she will need to move somewhere fresh and new to start over. Please don't give up.
She's not going to see much love in the world if she reads the comments on news sites.
But my sympathies are with her as well. Her life must be living hell.