News that a Douglas County man had been arrested in last week's deadly apartment fire caused further pain Tuesday for those who lost someone to the flames.
Fire officials were calling the fire arson, but not saying whether it was accidental or intentional. They weren't saying why they suspect the 20-year-old man, Jason Allen Rose, or why police arrested him on suspicion of aggravated arson and three counts of first-degree murder.
But as family and friends of the three whose bodies were pulled from the rubble Sunday waited for answers, they said that if the fire was intentionally set, someone should pay for their loved ones' deaths.
Nicole Michele Bingham, a University of Kansas student from Wichita, was one of the three who died in the Friday morning fire at Boardwalk Apartments. Another 18 people were injured.
News that the fire may have been arson added anger to the sadness that Renee Wallace, Bingham's best friend, was already feeling.
If someone set the fire -- by accident or intentionally -- why wouldn't they warn people, Wallace asked.
"Why wouldn't you call 911?" she asked. "This makes me very, very, very, very angry. There's not enough angries in the world to express what I'm feeling."
"It's just so stupid," said Priscilla Affani, niece of social worker Yolanda Riddle, another of the three killed.
"She was cheated out of so many things. She wanted to be a foster mom. She was going to get her doctorate. We were planning on going on trips."
The suspect, whom Lawrence police arrested after 2 a.m. Tuesday, could be charged as early as this afternoon. Police released few details about the man, but Douglas County District Court records show he has a 2003 misdemeanor theft conviction from juvenile court for stealing lighters from a hardware store when he was 17. He pleaded no contest and was sentenced to six months probation.
Judy Miller, assistant manager of Boardwalk Apartments, said the man had lived in the building for the past few months and hadn't caused any trouble.
"We were just shocked," Miller said.
All officials would say is that they had interviewed nearly 200 people and some of those conversations led them to the suspect.
"That person surfaced as someone we needed to talk with," said Mark Bradford, interim chief of the Lawrence-Douglas County Fire and Medical Department.
As detectives continued to interview the suspect Tuesday afternoon, Bradford confirmed that two of the three bodies pulled from the rubble had been identified as Bingham and Riddle. The third person is believed to be Jose Gonzalez, a 50-year-old electrician.
Bingham, a member of the Alpha Delta Pi sorority at KU, would have turned 22 today.
"The entire University of Kansas community is deeply shocked and saddened by the tragic loss of Nicole Bingham," said Kansas Chancellor Robert Hemenway, in a statement released Tuesday. "We offer our most heartfelt condolences to her family, friends and colleagues."
The university said Bingham was a Wichita North High School graduate who attended Wichita State University and was a senior at KU majoring in history. She was an employee in the business office of the Kansas Union.
Outside the Boardwalk on Tuesday, Bobby Riddle, his daughter Jackie Affani and her two daughters stood in front of what was left of Yolanda Riddle's apartment building. She lived in the end apartment on the third floor.
"The doctor said it was the smoke that got her," Bobby Riddle said of his daughter, who had chronic asthma and always kept an inhaler nearby.
They had come in search of her car and her cat. The family now thinks the cat, which co-workers knew as Miss Kitty, was with the social worker when she died.
Jackie Affani wiped tears from her eyes as daughter Priscilla snapped photos with a disposable camera.
Bradford said the third body won't be officially identified until after the Shawnee County medical examiner's office gives the final OK.
"Our condolences go out to the Gonzalez family," Bradford said at Tuesday's news briefing. "We want to make sure we make a positive identification before that information is released."
Maria Gonzalez said her family is clinging to one another as they wait for news about her brother.
"Are we holding out hope? No," said Maria Gonzalez. "We were there at the site when they were digging. They dug in the site where his apartment had been and they did take something out, like a body, somewhere near the front door....
"He was always there for my kids. They had a lot of respect for him and a lot of love for him. They're really taking it the hardest."
Distributed by the Associated Press
