Murder/Suicide Suspected In YMCA Fire

"WHITE PLAINS, NY — Two people were found dead in a possible murder/suicide in a White Plains YMCA after fire tore through the facility, officials said.

"The blaze is believed to have been set intentionally by a long time resident just after 4 a.m. and is currently being investigated as a homicide, according to a police department spokesman.

"The body of the man who is believed to have started the fire, identified by fellow residents only as Eddie, was found in his third-floor room at the Y. The body of another man was found on the first floor.

"`I was trying to go to sleep but I heard a noise and smoke started coming in my window,` said a man who claimed to have lived next door to the supposed firebug. `I ran into the hallway and it was so hot. I couldn't see anything because of the smoke. The explosion made a wall cave in in someone’s room. He was screaming 'fire, fire.'`

"Those who lived at the Y on Mamaroneck Avenue said the incident may have been the result of an ongoing fight between the two men.

"`Eddie was not very friendly and didn’t react well to people,` said Joel Halpera, 73."

From the New York Post...