DUNMORE, Pa. — A man from Dunmore, who recently completed an eight-and-a-half-year prison sentence for setting a fire in Scranton, is now charged in a deadly arson in Bucks County.
The fire happened at 3:15 a.m. Sunday at a home in Buckingham Township, Bucks County.
Phyllis and Julius Delick, both in their 80s, shared the home. Firefighters say Julius Delick was trapped inside when the chairlift he relied on lost power.
Accelerant-sniffing dogs were called in, and investigators determined that the fire was intentionally set.
Police then put out a call across the state for officers to look for Christopher Gillie, 61, who lives with Delick's daughter in Dunmore.
Dunmore police pulled Gillie over on Sunday.
"He was stopped in Dunmore, Lackawanna County, hours after the fire. I should point out that this is two hours away. A strong odor of gasoline was detected on Gillie by the officer who stopped him. And a lighter was visible on the passenger seat," said Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub.
The D.A. said prosecutors have an idea about the motive but aren't talking about it at this point.
Gillie is already a convicted arsonist. He was charged with setting fire to a vacant home and garage on Larch Street in Scranton in 2012. He was sentenced in 2013 to eight and a half years behind bars.
Prosecutors confirm that Gillie was released from prison sometime in the last two years.
Now he's behind bars again, charged with criminal homicide, arson, and related charges.
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