EAST LYME, Conn. (AP) – A South Windsor man has been charged with burning down his landmark beach home last month just hours before he was to hand it over to his estranged wife.
Richard Shenkman, 58, owner of a Bloomfield advertising firm, was arrested Friday on charges of first-degree arson and first-degree reckless endangerment in the March 5 fire. He was taken into custody outside a Wethersfield law office where he was scheduled to attend a deposition regarding his divorce, said East Lyme Public Safety and Fire Marshal Richard Morris. Morris said the fire transformed 115-year-old Victorian home into a “dirt basement.”
Shenkman was alone in the home at the time when the fire broke out just before 5 a.m., Morris said. He climbed onto a porch roof with his two dogs to escape the flames. Neighbors helped him off the roof. A police officer was injured during the rescue.
Morris said Shenkman kept changing his statements about the fire. He said Shenkman eventually stopped speaking to Morris and state police investigator. Morris said he learned that Shenkman had court orders to vacate beach home that morning.
Shenkman was scheduled to be arraigned Monday in New London Superior Court.
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Information from: Journal Inquirer, http://www.journalinquirer.com
AP-ES-05-12-07 1200EDT
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