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Peter Waraska was sentenced to eight years and eight months in prison for setting a fire that killed a couple.
A former Connecticut volunteer firefighter has been sentenced to eight years and eight months in prison after pleading guilty to setting a fatal 1986 fire in East Windsor.
For more visit NBCConnecticut.com.
Peter Waraksa, 50, pleaded guilty on Thursday to two counts of negligent homicide, arson and burglary.
Waraksa was arrested in July 2010 -- more than 23 years after the crime -- in connection with the deaths of Orie “Harold” Weeks, 59, and his wife, Assunta, 57, who were found dead after a fire at their home on Oct. 7, 1986.
Waraksa, a member of the Warehouse Point Volunteer Fire Department at the time of the fire, was charged with arson murder after an investigation by East Windsor police and the state cold case unit.
He was already in prison at the time of the arrest, serving a five-year sentence issued in 2007 for sexually assaulting five boys.
NBCConnecticut.com and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Leave a Comment:
my wasn't he a busy little beaver..............hang em.............nuff said.............
How does he get only 8 years for arson, burglary and two murders? I thought murder is murder. He killed two people by intentionally setting a fire. He is already incarcerated for other serious crimes, so he deserves no leniency. What is wrong with the laws in Connecticut?
off hand i would say...allot
Well lets see Connecticut is a blue state, so there is your answer its totally ****ed up.
Leatherneck918...WRONG!!! Has nothing to do with political power when it comes to sentencing a person. If you knew how State and Federal governments operated you would rethink what you just said in your comment. I know lots of people who are Democrats and would love to see perps who rape, molest and murder people go away for life!! (Before you jump the gun, I am not a Democrat.) There are just some laws in sentencing that should be at the federal level so that no matter where they go in this country to commit such henious crimes it will always come back to haunt the perp. We are the United States, not the Divided States. Doing so many things are the State level when it comes to crimes committed in the United States should be involving rape, murder and other henious acts should not vary!! It is that simple.
Julie w/cystic fibrosis,Excellent post and I agree with you 100%.
Where is the justice in this sentencing? He is already in jail for 5 years for ruining 5 boys lives and then he gets 8 years 8 months for taking 2 peoples lives! Not to mention the families of these victims! I just don't get this. Praying for the victims and their families.
I don't understand the light sentence for murdering 2 innocent people. What is wrong with the system this time. People get more time if they have a accident in a car that kills someone, then someone that sets out to commit a crime and kills someone. disappointing to say the least.
This guy needs a daily beat down for the next eight years,Maybe two or three times a day, almost makes me want to break the law in Connecticut so I can do it myself!
I still don't know why CT ditched the death penalty earlier this year. Clearly some individuals, like this guy, deserve no less.
He was in jail for just five years for diddling five boys and he got another eight for two murders? How did life come to be so cheap in Connecticut? I think Texas tends to overcook some convicts but yous people are just as whacked.
5 years for sexually assaulting 5 boys and 8 years 8 months for murdering 2 people? That's it? Well let's get this solid citizen back on the street as soon as possible. The judge should be sent to jail for felony sentencing.
This guy was a cancer preying on society for 20 years after killing two people, but he only gets 8 years and 8 months when he finally gets caught. Something is wrong up there. To the cops that spent years trying to solve this case the State would like to tell you: Thanks for nothing! Why bother solving cold cases if the courts give the guilty a slap on the wrist? Do the dead arson victims have surviving family? What do they think of this "harsh sentence"?
And 99 years for child abuse. Clearly the woman who was sentenced this deserved a portion of this sentence, but stacked against this guy, priorities are very skewed. (yes I realize one was Texas and the other was Connecticut)
Billz123,I agree.This creep shouldn't have been out on the streets after assaulting these young boys.This short sentence is not justice served.
I think we've found the perfect cellmate for Jerry Sandusky. Put 'em together for eight years...things might just work out fine for justice AND society.
they can both console one another and whine how they were railroaded.
8 years for 2 murders and arson. My high school principal, who was also a former cop got sentenced to 5 year in prison just for arson. Does that mean 2 murders got him an additional 3 years? What is wrong with the judge? This looks like a sweet heart plead deal. Maybe the case was not strong enough to get a conviction in court. This guy deserves life with no parole.
I agree. When he gets out, I wouldn't want to think he'd be living next to me or even in the same town. I hope when he gets out, he's on parole and ordered to live next to the judge. It's almost clear to me that this POS has most likely lived a life of crime since the fire, maybe even since before that, he just wasn't caught for the others. If there are other murders there that are cold cases, I certainly hope they're looking at him for those as well-maybe they can clear the books on a lot of them. He's not going to stop. Hopefully he'll suffer his death penalty after he's released.
Funny I never read a story where a black guy got a ridiculously light sentence for a Capital crime. Light sentence is for white men and probation is for white women.
then you cannot read. we are constantly seeing repeat balck offenders and asking the same questions. there is no need to make this a race thing. they all desrve longer sentences. If I had caught him raping my child he would have received the death penalty right there- no matter the color.
What do you expect coming from a robot? I didn't read anything about a capital crime either Robbie.
I've noticed that many white men get second chances regarding their crimes. Usually, the police don't charge them with a crime when it's their first, and they spend a couple of decades free before someone in law enforcement grows a spine and takes a second look at the evidence against them.
I can't say enough about the double standards regarding the prosecution and sentencing of white women. As it now stands, they can murder their husbands and children, molest the students they teach, and flee from justice with little concern for the retribution they will face.
Lady Justice is not blind, and she has a penchant for meting out the harshest penalties for those who don't look like her.
Meanwhile, back in Dallas, a Hispanic mother was sentenced to 99 years in prison for abusing her daughter. That guy murders two people and gets a couple of years in prison, while a mother of 5 children is essentially given the death penalty.
I agree the hispanic women got way to much time but I don't think it is racially motivated. I beleive she should have received some time in jail and mandatory counseling. This guy didn't get off easy because of his color it was just a grave error in our system or the judge.
Karen-spend some time in Texas. Not only was the sentence for that mother racially motivated but gender-biased.
Remember that Texas judge whose daughter released a tape of him beating her with a belt? His wife also testified that he abused her. So how long was he sentenced for being a 'monster'? He wasn't even charged. And he might even get reinstated as a family court judge.
That's "Texas justice" for ya.
8 years for murder- 5 years for raping little boys.
what is a serious crime?
we are so screwed up when society sees these as just punishment.
CT prisons are over-crowded, full of convicted pot growers, pot dealers and pot smokers. We can't have pedos and murderers taking up the space when there are pot heads on the loose!
Pedophiles! Move to Connecticut. The have sympathy for you. The consequences are light. ( bring your lighters)
disgusting !
i
Sandusky: "Dang, I should have my trial moved to CT. I need a new lawyer."
Them 2 will make lovely cellmates. 5 years for assaulting 5 boys, that's one year per child's life he destroyed. 8 years for killing 2 adults. Something is fishy here. While a TX mom gets 99 years for beating her toddler and superglue her hands; that ain't gonna stop her from pumping out more babies while in jail.
Now I'm sure a professional Firefighter has committed an arson before, but it always seems these arsons are caused by Vollys wanting to get their rocks off on a fire. What a douchbag. You don't find many volly cops around, why is it ok for volly firefighters to be put into a live saving service when so many wouldn't make the cut at a normal paid dept? This country needs to get it's priorities straight and quit messing around. Instead of taxes going to BS it should be going to infrastructure, schools and civil services. Both sides of the isle waste and whine about the dumbest crap. Put the tax money to good use and invest in this country and not Pakistan earthquake relief or crap to other countries that hate us.
He ONLY got 8 years for murdering 2 people and thousands in damage? You voters got to recall the judge in that case. No wonder criminals aren't afraid of the court system any more. FIRE that judge.
I'm not understanding this he gets 5yrs for molesting 5 boys and then 8yrs for murder but someone who sells drugs gets more time it makes no sense he molested 5 boys who's live will be forever be changed, he should get his man hood cut off and have to piss through a tube the rest of his life and get the death sentence so I don't have to support him in prison. This is what politicians should be debating about not same sex marriage and taking birth control away this society is a joke I fear for my kids when they get older. This world is going to hell at the hands of us..... sad sad sad sad
Connecticut voters wake up. Recall this judge, and especially if Judge did not issue the maximum sentence allowed with the plea deal if the case was not strong. The probability of this judge being appointed (or on a ballot, elected overwhelming by voters voting Democrat) in a Blue State, wanna bet?
I know nothing about this slimeball or his case. However, reading the article indicates his five year sentence for abusing the kids is about up and he was set to run free. The State may well know he set the fire that killed that couple but after well over a quarter century later it was going to be nearly impossible to get a guilty verdict in court. Using a 'plea bargain' to corner him into admission of guilt at least gets him off the street for another near decade.
Sometimes 'justice' must settle for 'half a loaf' to protect society. So, I'm saying we, who know not the details, should be understanding of what may have gone into the resulting 'conviction'. Admitedly, society can only be fully placated if he 'falls on a knife' or like accident while in the Big House.
Our judicial system is broken,antiquated and just wrong. These plea bargained, light sentences are the result of a lack of money and jail space to keep these criminals behind bars for as long as they should be - in cases like this, for life!!
We need to reform laws so that there are no plea bargains allowed for heinous crimes such as these. We need to reform the time and amount of appeals convicted criminals are allowed. And, most of all, we need to reform our prison system. Way too many luxury's for these scumbags! No cable TV, no TV at all, no weights and exercise equipment, no sporting activities or anything else that is enjoyed by people who obey the law.
Prison should not be comfortable in any way. It should be so miserable that if you do serve a prison sentence and are released, you will NEVER, ever want to go back. If all of this was done, there would be enough money to house all of the convicted murderers, rapists and pedophiles for life. None of these people should ever be let out nor should they have any of the comforts or happiness of freedom. Violent convicted criminals should be nothing but miserable, 24 hrs a day, for the rest of their rotten lives! This would be much better than the death penalty!
So...a 12 year old black kid who suffered severe abuse and trauma faces possible life in prison for beating his brother who dies. A firefighter gets a total of 13 years for killing TWO people and sexually assaulting FIVE boys?? What the hell?