10x04 - Up In Smoke

[bunniefuu]

Narrator: in the aftermath
of a fatal fire,

One question remained...

Was it an accident,
or was it arson?

It took the physics
of a burning cigarette,

The chemical composition
of a flame,

And a computer-simulated fire
to determine how the fire

Started and who was responsible.

Narrator: for 25 years,
ed and rosalie camiolo

Lived in an affluent suburb
just outside of philadelphia.

Ed was a retired government
worker.

Rosalie worked
in the computer industry.

Their only child, paul,
a 31-year-old computer

Programmer, lived upstairs.

He took care of his parents
since they had difficulty

Getting around.

It's not that they were
bedridden or complete invalids.

But they certainly weren't
athletic and able to

Respond, in my opinion,
to an emergency situation.

Narrator: just before dawn,
in september of 1996,

Paul made an emergency call
to the fire department.

911, What is your emergency?

We have a fire in our living
room.

It's getting really bad.

Get out of the house.

The fire department's
coming out.

Narrator: when police
arrived, they found paul

On the front lawn, getting
dressed.

Paul said his mother and father
had gotten out through the back

Door.

When the officer went
to the backyard to check,

There was an expl*si*n.

She found rosalie on
the back porch, severely burned

And barely conscious.

But there was no sign
of her 81-year-old husband, ed.

Firefighters later found him
inside.

He had been unable to escape.

The victim that was located
was in a rear bathroom,

And he was in cardiac arrest
at that time.

Narrator: ed camiolo
was pronounced dead

At the hospital.

Rosalie died, too,
a result of smoke inhalation.

How horrible it must've been
for my uncle, what he went

Through to be burned...

And my aunt.

How horrible it must've been
for her.

Narrator: the firemen
at the scene didn't see

Anything suspicious.

It was a general consensus
that the fire was accidental in

Nature and most probably
the result of the careless

Handling of smoking materials,
either a cigarette or a match

To light the cigarettes.

Narrator: paul camiolo
told investigators

His mother was a chain smoker
and that she probably started

The fire accidentally.

Paul said he was asleep upstairs
when he heard his father

Calling him.

He said there was a small fire
on the sofa, which his mother

Was trying to put out.

He ran to the kitchen,
got a pitcher of water,

And threw it on the sofa.

But it made the fire worse.

He told his parents
to go out the back door.

He called 911,
then he went out the front door

To his car.

He was in his underwear,
I believe at the time.

Had his car parked out in front
and had a gym bag in his car,

And he felt he could get
some shorts or clothes

To put on.

What doesn't make sense
to me was paul's story.

To this day, I have problems
with what he says happened.

Narrator: this incident
raised eyebrows

Among investigators.

He went in an entirely
different direction.

I mean, I think common sense
dictates that you're gonna

Make sure your folks
get out of the house.

And the way to make sure
that your parents get out

Of the house is to follow them
out of the house.

Narrator: paul camiolo
admitted his behavior was a

Mistake, but said he was dazed
and confused.

You know, I remember feeling
guilty about it because I was

The able-bodied one
and I didn't get them out.

Narrator: but when
a suspicious substance

Was found on the living room
floor, all eyes turned once

Again to paul camiolo.

Narrator: ed and rose
camiolo were laid to rest

In the family plot just a few
miles from their home.

The camiolos' lives before the
fire had not been easy.

Their son paul
was their primary caregiver.

You know, he did have
that responsibility

To help assist his parents.

He would do the grocery shopping
for them.

If they wanted something
from a department store,

A lot of times, he would go
to the mall and buy it and bring

It home.

Narrator: investigators
wondered whether paul may have

Had something to do
with setting the fire.

There was money there
in the form of insurance money.

And that, in and of itself,
was a powerful motive.

I believe he received about
$200,000 in insurance benefits.

A second motive
that some of the investigators

Believed existed
was that paul camiolo was tired

Of caring for his infirmed
parents.

Narrator: fire investigators
searched through the rubble

And found something
very suspicious.

In the center of the room,
there was a pattern

That looked like perhaps
it might have been

Associated with a liquid pour --
what they refer to it

When someone might've poured
an accelerant.

Narrator: to see
if an accelerant was used,

Investigators removed samples of
the carpeting, the padding,

And the hardwood floor.

The samples were sealed
in paint cans to prevent any

Gases from escaping and sent to
the forensic lab.

Gas chromatography can identify
the molecular components

Of the samples,
and the results showed

There was evidence
of gasoline on the wood floor.

And the single biggest piece
of evidence for them to conclude

This was an arson fire
was the finding of gasoline

In the hardwood floor.

Because how else would you
explain gasoline in a living

Room?

When the test results
come back, it changes

From "I don't know"
to "wow, we have a --

We have an accelerant here.

This must be an arson."

And that changes people's
opinions.

Narrator: to prosecutors,
the presence of gasoline meant

m*rder.

Based on this evidence,
prosecutors believed

That paul poured gasoline
on the living room floor

While his parents were upstairs
asleep.

He then set the room on fire
and called the fire department.

The heat and smoke made it
impossible for paul's parents

To make it out of the house
alive.

Paul strongly denied these
charges.

My mother and father
knew the truth,

And god knows the truth,
and that's all that mattered

To me.

Narrator: paul camiolo
was arrested and charged

With two counts
of first-degree m*rder.

His request for bail was denied.

I had no problem justifying
arguing for the death penalty.

I mean, I just -- I can't think
of anything more vile

Than k*lling the very people
that brought you into this

World.

They were saying I tried
to burn them to death, you know?

That's --
that's just, you know, horrible

Beyond words.

Narrator: the press
depicted him

As a cold-blooded k*ller.

Yet, his family stood firmly
behind him.

Anybody who knew paul, knew
he couldn't do anything like

That.

He loved his parents very much.

And they were a very devoted
family.

That boy was good
to his parents.

We were all there
to support him,

And we all went to the hearings,
and several of us

Visited him on a regular basis.

We all believed
that he was innocent.

Narrator: as the trial
approached, paul camiolo

And his defense team
looked for some way to prove

That the fire was an accident.

I couldn't imagine
how the gasoline got in there.

But there had to be
another explanation as to why

Gasoline was in that floor.

Narrator: the firemen
responding to the camiolos'

House fire were all volunteers.

But one of them had an unusual
background.

Steve avato was also an agent
with the bureau of alcohol,

Tobacco, and firearms.

He had been a philadelphia
policeman prior to going

To the A*F.

So he was not someone
just out of the academy.

He had been someone involved
in police work

For a number of years.

Narrator: the A*F took
no part in this investigation.

But personally, avato was
dumbfounded when he learned

Paul camiolo had been charged
with arson.

To him, it just didn't make
sense.

That finding shocked me.

I hadn't anticipated that.

It seemed very difficult
to explain how the gasoline

Would be in hardwood floor
but not in the carpeting

And padding above it,
if a significant volume

Of gasoline was poured.

Narrator: and avato wasn't
the least bit suspicious

Of paul's behavior
on the night of the fire.

It's not unusual
for people in a fire

To exit a building
through the way that they're

Most comfortable exiting.

If they typically come and go
through the front door,

No matter where they are
in the house, they'll exit

Through the front door.

Narrator: avato told local
investigators that he believed

The fire was accidental, and he
was roundly dismissed.

They portrayed him in the
media that he was, you know,

An apprentice fire investigator
that really was not experienced

And really didn't have
the qualifications to be

Offering opinions.

He was treated like dirt
by the locals and by the

Attorneys involved in this case.

When the defense team learned
about steve avato's opinion

That the fire was an accident,
they conducted

Their own investigation
and hired dr. Rick roby,

An expert on the science
of fires.

What makes it difficult is,
fires burn up

A lot of the evidence.

Narrator: roby studies fires
while they're burning.

To do this, he sets fires
like this one in model rooms.

Fires progress differently
depending on how they're set,

The size of the room, air flow,
and hundreds of other

Considerations.

All of this data is then entered
into a computer.

It's a fully 3-d fire
modeling software that actually

Allows you to model the
development and growth of a fire

In a building.

Narrator: for this
assignment, roby and his staff

Built a virtual reality
replica of the camiolo home.

Then they entered all known
information about the fire

Into the computer.

Roby conservatively estimated
that it would take at least

One gallon of gasoline
to create a pour pattern

The size of the one
found in the living room.

Five or six minutes
after paul camiolo called

The fire department,
the outside window exploded.

The expl*si*n was the result of
what is called flashover.

When flashover occurs,
temperatures in the room

Get so high that items ignite
even without coming into contact

With the flame...

As you can see here.

And, in fact, unfortunately,
there are firefighters k*lled

Every year
by having been caught

In flashover conditions
because it happens so rapidly.

Sometimes it's very difficult
to escape from those conditions.

Narrator: after roby entered
this information

Into his computer program,
he lit a virtual match.

Within 30 seconds,
hot gas fills the room.

Within one minute,
smoke and gas spread

Up the stairs
to the second floor.

And three minutes
after ignition,

The living room would reach
flashover,

Blowing out the window.

The entire room
becomes engulfed in flames

Because there's so much burning
and so much hot gas

That it's completely
uninhabitable.

Narrator: but the police
witnessed the window

Breaking five or six minutes
after paul called

The fire department.

To roby, this meant
that gasoline couldn't have been

Used to start the fire.

He would've had a tough time
actually getting to the front

Door without being engulfed
in flames.

That's one of the things
our model showed.

So we looked at the arson
scenario, and there was

Inconsistency after
inconsistency.

Narrator: next, roby tested
paul camiolo's story.

Paul said the fire
started by accident

With a cigarette or a match
his mother had been using.

At one minute,
the fire would be about

Two feet tall
and gathering strength.

At 2 minutes,
it would be moving across

The ceiling.

At four minutes,
temperatures and gas levels

In the room would be fatal.

At 5 1/2 minutes,
the fire reaches flashover,

And the window blows out.

This was consistent
with paul camiolo's version

Of events.

It matches up with everything
that paul camiolo was saying

And with other objective
evidence that he has nothing

To do with.

Narrator: but important
questions remained.

If the fire was an accident,
why was gasoline found

On the living room floor?

I was horrified.

It felt like
I was in my own horror film.

Narrator: defense attorney
thomas cometa strongly

Believed his client
paul camiolo was innocent,

That he never set fire
to his family's home

In order to k*ll his parents.

Facing the death penalty
for a crime that he was

Convinced and we were convinced,
first of all, that he did not

Commit,
but a crime that didn't occur,

That this was an accidental
fire.

So, yeah, there were
high stakes in this case.

There's no doubt about that.

Narrator: the reason
paul camiolo had been charged

With first-degree m*rder
was the gasoline

Found on the wood floors
in the living room.

But paul's defense team
was suspicious of this finding.

They took samples
of the carpeting,

The carpet padding,
and some newspaper,

And there was no gasoline
in any of those samples.

It was only in the hardwood
floor.

And it was just inconceivable,
how can you pour gasoline

In a family room
and not get the gas

On those other items
if that was going to be

The cause of the fire?

Narrator: so the defense team
hired john lentini, a nationally

Recognized fire expert, to find
out what happened.

Lentini retested
the samples of hardwood floor

Using atomic absorption
spectroscopy.

It's a way to measure
the concentration of metals

In a solution.

Narrator: the wood flooring
was dissolved in acid,

Then analyzed
to see how the solution

Is absorbed through the flame.

The amount of light absorbed
is proportional

To the concentration
of the element in the solution.

And what was the element
found in the solution?

Lead.

This meant that it was
leaded gasoline

On the camiolos' wood floors.

But how did this happen,
since leaded gasoline

Hadn't been sold in this country
for over 15 years?

Well, many of the poorly
constructed houses

That I've looked at
were built in the early '70s,

And they were built
by contractors

Who were cutting corners.

Narrator: flooring
contractors often used gasoline

As a thinner
so the varnish would go on

To the wooden floors
more easily.

This was cheaper than using
high-quality thinners.

No one refuted the fact that
that was a common practice,

That they did use gas
in finishing

Of the hardwood floors.

So I'm convinced
that's where that gas came from.

So that was, really,

The moment where we said,
"here's the final piece

Of the puzzle."

If this is leaded gasoline,
it all makes sense,

And it makes sense
that it would be there and why.

Narrator: forensic tests
also revealed how

The fire started.

A cigarette, dropped onto
a polyurethane sofa,

Will simply smolder.

But when a match is dropped
on the same material,

It's almost like an expl*si*n.

And tests revealed
that another aspect

Of paul's story was correct --
that when he poured water

On the fire, it got worse.

The average person
wouldn't know

That polyurethane melts,
and then when you throw water

On it, it actually flares up
like a grease fire.

Narrator: when prosecutors
heard about this, to their

Credit, they conducted their own
test.

They secured from the
manufacturer the same fabric

That was on the camiolos' sofa.

And I cut off
a 4" x 4" portion

Of this fabric,
and we dropped the match on it,

And it ignited immediately.

And at that point,
I knew that the case

Was in trouble --
serious trouble.

Narrator: and the alleged
pour pattern

On the living room floor --
many now believe

It was simply the result
of normal wear and tear.

You would expect that people
walking back and forth on the

Carpet would thin the carpet,
and therefore any heat that's

Imparted on that would pass
through that carpet area more

Quickly than in other areas.

Narrator: when all of this
overwhelming body of evidence

Came to light,
all charges against

Paul camiolo were dropped.

In this business,
you have people that,

For a certain amount of money,
will tell you anything

You want to hear.

These experts were not of that
ilk.

And, no, it wasn't tough.

It wasn't a sad day.

It was the right thing to do,
and if it's the right thing

To do, then do it.

Now I'm not saying
it was malicious

And intentional,
I'm saying that unfortunately

They had gut feelings
and years of practical

Experience that led them
to conclude this had

To be an arson fire.

So they let common perceptions
outweigh logic and science,

And, luckily,
logic and science prevailed

In this case.

Narrator: paul spent


A possible death sentence for
a crime that never happened.

There are days I can't --
I don't look at pictures

Of my mother and father
because I --

I just remember the fire.

And there are other days
that, you know,

Once you've been in jail,
you almost feel, at times,

You have a scarlet letter.

He spent 10 months in jail.

He'll never get that time back.

That was liberty
that was taken away from him

That he'll never get back.

It was a time that he should've
been grieving for the loss

Of his parents, and instead, he
was fighting for his own life.

Narrator: john lentini says
fire investigation

Still has a long way to go
before its application

Is as dependable
as other forensic sciences.

It's a matter of a profession
that is largely controlled

And dominated by hacks.

And these people didn't set out
to become hacks,

But they don't know
what they're doing.

They're making complicated
decisions about chemistry

And physics, and they never
took chemistry and physics.

Narrator: when asked
how it felt to be right

All along, not surprisingly,
steve avato had no comment.

But his colleagues spoke for
him.

His courage was later
recognized by his fellow fire

Investigators when the
international association of

Arson investigators named him
investigator of the year for

Standing up to the enormous

Peer pressure that came down on

Him when he said, "wait a

Minute, guys, I don't think

We've really got an arson here."