NICOLE / 15 yo and MARY /12 yo GROSS - Hagerstown MD

An unemployed high-school dropout pleaded guilty Thursday to two
counts of felony murder for setting a house fire that killed his
girlfriend’s adolescent daughters in February.Clarence
F. Meyers, 38, of Hancock, calmly acknowledged his crimes as he stood
before a Washington County judge with the words, “I’m not lucky, I’m
good,” emblazoned on the chest of his dark brown T-shirt.State’s
Attorney Charles P. Strong said the state would drop arson and
child-abuse charges and seek a sentence of two consecutive life terms,
the maximum penalty. No sentencing date was set.“This tragedy was unnecessary, avoidable and pointless,” Strong said. “The family continues to suffer.”Melissa
Lindeman, the mother of victims Nicole R. Gross, 15, and Mary A. Gross,
12, wasn’t at the hearing. Strong said she has been hard to reach since
the Feb. 16 fire and had not assented to the plea agreement.The girls’ grandmother, aunt and uncle were present, and agreed with the plea bargain, Strong said.Meyers’ lawyer, Assistant Public Defender Eric A. Reed, declined to comment after the hearing.Meyers had previously pleaded not guilty.According
to an agreed-upon statement of facts, Meyers initially told Maryland
State Police that on the night of the fire, he was inside watching a
movie when he heard a noise, went outside to investigate, and saw an
orange, flickering light through an open basement door.That
didn’t match Lindeman’s statement that Meyers had gone to a convenience
store to buy her a soda shortly before the fire began. Police obtained
a surveillance video of Meyers at the store, and investigated further.In
his third interview with police, Meyers acknowledged setting the fire
“to gain sympathy from the community as well as monetary donations,”
according to the statement of facts. “He stated he was drunk and
stressed out about not being able to find work.”He said he thought he would have 10 to 15 minutes to get everyone out of the house.Meyers
told police that after starting the blaze with lighter fluid, he
regretted it and tried in vain to extinguish it. “He was surprised at
how quickly the fire spread,” according to the document.Lindeman
told police she awoke to the smell of smoke and kerosene and became
disoriented in the dark house before escaping through a window. A
neighbor, Michael Hovermale, said he answered a pounding on his door to
find Lindeman naked and bleeding from cuts on her torso and legs,
begging for help.Hovermale said he ran to the house and
helped Meyers, his brother-in-law, climb onto a porch roof in an
attempt to reach the girls’ bedroom. But Meyers was overcome by smoke
and fell off the roof, Hovermale told police.The girls’ bodies were found, fully clothed, in a second-floor bedroom of the rented house.