ETHAN, KAILEY,BRANDON and LANDON OWEN / 12, 9, and 5 yo twins / Accused: Derrick J. Twardoski - Chester, IL

Man charged with first-degree murder in deadly house fire

May 10, 2013 3:42 pm • THE SOUTHERN

CHESTER - A man faces four counts of first-degree murder and life in prison on charges related to a house fire that killed four children in the Randolph County community of Percy early Friday morning.

Derrick J. Twardoski was charged Friday afternoon by Randolph County State's Attorney Jeremy Walker in the deaths of Ethan Owen, 12, Kailey Owen, 9, and 5-year-old twins Brandon and Landon Owen.

The children were killed in a house fire authorities believe Twardoski set at about 2 a.m. Friday. He is in custody at the Randolph County Jail in Chester and will have a first court appearance Monday.

A fifth child, as well as several adults, were able to escape the fire, Walker said, although he did not release the names of survivors over privacy concerns.
Multiple fire departments responded to the scene Friday morning. The house is located in the 800 block of West Almond Street in Percy.

Shirley Hornbostel, who lives about two houses away from the home, said she heard the sirens this morning and looked outside.

"I looked out my window and it was just in flames," she said. "Flames were coming out the roof and windows."

Hornbostel said the family moved into the home in November. The father is a truck driver. They lived in the home with five children, including twins who were about 4 or 5 years old, she said.

Hornbostel said the children were often be riding their bikes in the street and playing in the yard, always under close supervision of one of their parents. The parents even put a plastic "Slow!" sign in the street to warn drivers that children were at play.

"We're all shook up," said another longtime neighbor, Paul Rubach, 85.

Hornbostel said the parents went to the hospital with a boy who suffered smoke inhalation. Hornbostel talked with the children's grandmother, who was outside on the street as investigators sifted through the rubble.

"I felt like I owed her my sympathy," Hornbostel said. "She said four of my grandchildren are gone."

The grandmother told neighbors that investigators were looking at arson as a possibility because a gas can was found in the yard and the tires on two vehicles had been slashed.

Officials declined to comment on such rumors during the news conference.

http://thesouthern.com/news/local/communities/randolph/man-charged-with-first-degree-murder-in-deadly-house-fire/article_34f2d9f4-b9b2-11e2-bfd4-0019bb2963f4.html

Unfortunately we don't have the death penalty any more here in Illinois. William

Four young children die in blaze after 'drifter sets fire to their houses with can of gasoline'

Derrick Twardoski, 33, knew the family whose home he allegedly burned down at 2am on Friday
Both parents, Matthew and Natasha Owen, and an 18-year-old relative escaped with only minor injuries
A fifth child also survived

By Daily Mail Reporter
PUBLISHED:18:11 EST, 13 May 2013| UPDATED:07:29 EST, 14 May 2013

A drifter has been charged with murder after four young children died when he set fire to their southern Illinois house as they slept, authorities say.

Derrick Twardoski, 33, knew the children's parents and family members say he was exercising a vendetta of some kind because the tires of the cars in the driveway were slashed and an empty gas can was found outside the house.

Ethan Owen, 12, Kailey Owen, 9 and five-year-old twins Brandon and Landon Owen perished in their beds during the 2am blaze Friday morning at the house in Percy, Illinois.


Tragic: Four young children, left to right, Brandon, 5, Ethan, 12, Landan, 5, and Kailey Owen, 9, perished in their beds at 2am Friday

Burned out: This is the house in Percy, Illinois, where four children died Friday morning. Their parents, an 18-year-old relative and a fifth child escaped

Their parents, Matthew and Natasha Owen, an 18-year-old relative escaped the house with only minor injuries. A fifth young sibling also escaped and was taken to the hospital and treated for smoke inhalation.

Twardoski, a drifter with no fixed address, knew the family, though police have not commented on a motive for the arson.

He appeared in court wearing a suicide smock today and sobbed uncontrollably in front of a judge.

He was ordered held in jail without bail. He is charged with four counts of murder.

All four children died of smoke inhalation, suffocating in their beds as they slept.

It is not known whether the house had working smoke detectors.

'I looked out my window and it was just in flame. Flames were coming out the roof and windows,' neighbor Shirley Hornbostel told the Southern Illinoisan.

Neighbors said they frequently saw the children playing outside their house on their bikes.

Their parents put up signs on the street to alert drivers of their children playing in the street.

The murders of such young children have shocked the tiny town of Percy, population less than 1,000.

'We're all shook up,' neighbor Paul Rubach, 85, told the newspaper.

Drifter: Derrick Twardosky, 33, wore a suicide smock in court and sobbed in front of a judge

Happy: This photo shows Evan, left, the twins Brandon and Landon, center, and Kailey, right. They were frequently seen playing outside their house in Percy, Illinois

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2324059/Percy-Illinois-Derrick-Twardoski-charged-blaze-killed-4-children.html

Sad four little angels gone. If you have kids make sure you have a current smoke alarm and carbon mono-oxide detectore in EACH bed room as well as out side each bed room door. In each hall and each floor. Your kids are more important than the cost of a few detectors. William

What a painful, gruesome way to die.

Evil POS.

Percy Fire Suspect Appears In Court On 4 Counts Of 1st Degree Murder

Posted on: 6:09 am, May 13, 2013, by Kim Hudson, updated on: 04:50pm, May 13, 2013

PERCY, IL (KTVI) – A judge has denied bond this morning for Derrick J. Twardoski. Investigators said he set the fire Friday that killed four children in Percy, Illinois.

The suspect has been sitting in jail with no bond all weekend long. Judge Richard A. Brown said he should stay there for now.

Twelve-year-old Ethan Owen, 9-year-old Kailey Owen, and twin 5-year-old boys Brandon and Landon Owen died when their home burned Friday morning.

Twardoski now faces four counts of first-degree murder.

The scene inside the courtroom was just as dramatic as it was quiet. Twardoski was sobbing and shaking his head during the entire proceeding. He was wearing only shoes and what looked a little like a bullet-proof vest that went all the way down to his ankles. Neither the jail nor the state’s attorney would confirm if Twardoski was on suicide watch but, Walker did confirm the suspect was wearing a suicide smock.

Twardoski tearfully told the judge that he could not afford a lawyer, and he did not understand what was happening. Judge Brown then appointed James Kelley to represent Twardoski.

The suspect resides in Alton, Illinois. However, he is originally from Cutler, Illinois, close to Percy. The victims also used to live in Cutler. The Randolph County’s Attorney Jeremy Walker confirmed that there was some sort of relationship between the suspect and the family of the victims, but after today’s victory for the prosecution he refused to say much else.

“Right now,” he said. “My only concern is to make sure that justice, whatever sort of justice we can give to this family who will never get these kids back, we’ll never be able to punish this guy enough for what he did.”

One of the Randolph County Commissioners, Marc Kienha, remembered playing basketball as a child at the same house that burned Friday. He said it was hard to express how he felt seeing a childhood memory turn into a horrific scene.

“It’s just such a terrible feeling. I can only imagine what those children went through when they died,” he shook his head.

The children’s 19-year-old cousin Megan Inselmann heard an alarm, saw that the house was on fire and screamed for the parents. She made it out alive with the children’s mother Tosha Owen and 7-year-old brother Noah Owen, who was sleeping on the first floor. The children’s father, Matt Owen, reportedly climbed on the roof of a porch in an attempt to rescue the children trapped on the home’s second floor.

“As a parent with children of my own,” Commissioner Kienha said. “I cannot imagine the feeling of trying to get to your own children and being unable to.”

He called the judge’s ruling “appropriate”.

Twardoski is scheduled to go back to court on June 3, 2013 at 10 a.m. for a preliminary hearing. He could face 20 years to life in prison for each count.

The community will gather for the visitation at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church from 4 p.m. until 8 p.m. Monday. Another will be held on Tuesday from 7:30 a.m. to 1:45 p.m.

The funeral service will be Tuesday at 2 p.m.

http://fox2now.com/2013/05/13/visitation-monday-for-kids-killed-in-fire-suspect-to-appear-in-court/

JMHO, but this is the most heinous of crimes. I read in another article that a neighbor speculated the motive was a dispute over "what Twardosky believed to be stolen property could have triggered the events" but there is no official comment yet about that.