Nation

50-Foot Christmas Tree Outside Fox News Set on Fire by 49yr Old Homeless Man

Published

1 year ago

December 8, 2021

Just before 12:15 am Wednesday morning, an arsonist set fire to the 50-foot tree in front of Fox News’ Midtown headquarters on 6th avenue. The suspect, a 49-year-old with three prior arrests, was quickly caught and taken into custody.

The man has two previous arrests for drug possession and one for public intoxication. The motive is unclear, and Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said detectives are looking into whether mental illness was a factor.

The suspect accused of setting the News Corp. Christmas tree on fire is taken into custody by the NYPD.

“The suspect is identified as 49-year-old Craig Tamanaha, who is homeless, with a last known address in Brooklyn” reports ABC 7 New York. Police said the suspect climbed up “the metal superstructure” underneath the artificial tree and lit papers he had brought with him on fire, then shoved the papers into the tree structure.

He then climbed down and watched from the street level as it burned, and he was spotted by building security who pointed the man out to police officers posted in nearby Rockefeller Center,” reports ABC.

A lighter was found in his possession, and he has been charged with criminal mischief, reckless endangerment, arson, criminal nuisance, endangering others, criminal trespass, criminal tampering and disorderly conduct.

Fox says it will rebuild the tree, which took more than 21 hours to assemble and consisted of 10,000 glass ornaments and 100,000 lights.

Featured

Letter reveals that Brian Laundrie’s mother vowed to help “dispose of body”

Published

10 hours ago

May 25, 2023

Alexander Carter

A letter from Brian Laundrie’s mother revealed her willingness to aid her son in hiding his crime. Roberta, Laundries mother, wrote “burn after reading” on the front and was allegedly committed to helping her son dispose of a body.

The letter has now become the epicenter of a civil suit the Petito family has brought against the Laundrie family. The Petitos are suing the Laundries for emotional distress due to the lack of communication with the Petito family when their daughter had gone missing.

The Laundrie family has claimed that the letter is irrelevant to the case because it was given to their son before the tragically fatal disappearance of Petito. On Tuesday during the hearing, Defense Attorney P. Matthew Luka said, “This document pre-dates Brian and Gabby’s trip so its creation really doesn’t have any relation necessarily to the unfortunate events that unfolded thereafter.” He added, “I know that some of the wording that was used in the letter is unfortunate and might suggest that it has some connection but it doesn’t.”

So what does the letter say?

“If you’re in jail I will bake a cake with a file in it. If you need to dispose of a body. I will show up with a shovel and garbage bags,” Roberta wrote to her son in the letter.

“If you’re in jail I will bake a cake with a file in it. If you need to dispose of a body. I will show up with a shovel and garbage bags.”
This is the Roberta Laundrie “burn after reading” letter she gave to Brian Laundrie.
Sent to me by Petito family attorney. pic.twitter.com/VIiLk3wa4J

— Brian Entin (@BrianEntin) May 25, 2023

According to reports, Roberta said the verbiage she used in the letter, specifically about the disposal of a body, “were common enough in our circle of friends and family to describe who you could turn to in the most troubling times of your life.”

Moreover, one user on Twitter responded to the tweet of the letter, speculating that Roberta’s letter “sounds like a Jocasta complex,” specifically in response to a section of the letter where she wrote, “not even the unthinkable can get between us.”

The Laundrie family continues to claim that they believe they have done everything the correct way and that Gabby Petito’s disappearance was just as much a mystery to them as to the rest of the world. They claim that they had no knowledge of her disappearance and that the letter is purely a coincidence, with no connection to the fatal loss of Gabby Petito. According to reports, the trial will be held in August of this year.

Follow Alexander Carter @AlexCarterDC on Twitter for more!