Fire burns down trailer where Jessica Lunsford was murdered

2-16-09 Florida:

HOMOSASSA — There are four windows on the front of the double-wide mobile home where Ruth and Archie Lunsford live. They have clear sight lines through each one to the single-wide where, four years ago, John Couey took their granddaughter, 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford, and raped her, kept her and killed her.

On Sunday, around 10:30 p.m., Ruth Lunsford noticed flashing red lights through the blinds of her bedroom. She opened them and saw shooting orange flames.

She called to leave a voice mail for her son, Mark, Jessica's father. She seldom leaves long messages, she said Monday at her dining room table, and this one didn't need to be:

"The Couey place is on fire."

The dingy primer-gray single-wide at 6647 W Snowbird Court has not been just another trailer since March 19, 2005, when Jessica Lunsford was found wrapped in two black trash bags buried in a shallow sandy hole in the yard. She had gone missing from her grandparents' home in the middle of the night more than three weeks before.

Couey, 50, a drifter and pedophile, was convicted of her murder in March 2007 and sentenced to death.

‘I’m the big bad wolf this time’: Florida mom burns down home of convicted child-killer in firefighter training exercise

2-13-15 Florida:

The mother of a 7-year-old who was raped and murdered got some measure of payback by helping firefighters burn down the Orange Park, Fla., home once owned by the convicted killer. The man is now serving a life-sentence, and his residence, where the crime occurred, was torched as part of a training exercise for local firefighters.

Diena Thompson’s desire for revenge burned white hot, but she didn't break any laws when she finally got it.

Wearing a firefighter jacket and a cathartic smile, the mother of a 7-year-old who was raped and murdered got some measure of payback by helping local smoke-eaters burn down the Florida home of the man now serving a life sentence for the crime. It was a firefighter training exercise.

“I get to burn their house down," Thompson told News4Jax Thursday after throwing a flare into the Orange Park, Fla. home. "I am the big bad wolf this time, knocking down your door."

Firm offers to raze Newtown shooter's home for free

2-18-15 Connecticut:

NEWTOWN -- A construction company with ties to Newtown has offered to demolish Adam Lanza's home at no cost, First Selectwoman Pat Llodra announced Tuesday.

Representatives from Plainville-based Manafort Brothers are expected to meet with town officials this week to discuss the details and possibly set a demolition date for the 36 Yogananda St. property, the home where Lanza lived with his mother before he took her life and killed 20 students and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Llodra said several Manafort employees live in Newtown, which helped encourage the company to make the offer.

Prior to Manafort's proposal, the town was planning to pay about $30,000 for demolition with money from a special insurance fund dedicated to costs associated with the Dec. 14, 2012, shooting. The fund was used in the demolition of the Sandy Hook Elementary School in late 2013.

Representatives of Manafort could not be reached for comment Tuesday night.

Llodra's announcement came minutes after residents at a special town meeting voted 6-0 to authorize the Board of Selectmen to proceed with the demolition plan.