FIREBUG
From the co-creator of The Ballad of Billy Balls, Crimetown, and the host of Morally Indefensible comes a new podcast, Firebug. In the early 1990s, a manuscript for a novel called “Points of Origin” landed at literary agencies across the country. It tells the story of a fictional serial arsonist who lights up southern California. The thing is… the fires described in the novel may actually be real. Was Points of Origin a work of fiction, or the confessions of a prolific arsonist and murderer? Host Kary Antholis goes on a journey to figure out where fiction meets reality.
Chapter One | Point of Origin
In 1991, Federal Investigators arrest an arsonist in Los Angeles. In his home, they find a manuscript for a novel about a firebug burning down California. But is the book really a work of fiction, or the confessions of a prolific arsonist turned murderer? Host Kary Antholis investigates to figure out where fiction meets reality.
Chapter Two | The Coin Tosser
During the Summer of 1985, arson investigator John Orr and his new partner Doug Staubs face off against a serial arsonist lighting up Glendale, California. Orr is one of the most renowned arson investigators in the state, but this arsonist always seems one step ahead.
Chapter Three | Catch Me If You Can
A brazen series of fires breaks around an arson investigators conference. Bakersfield Investigator Marvin Casey gets a break in the case: a sophisticated incendiary device… and a fingerprint.
Chapter Four | College Hills
The worst brush fire in Glendale history sweeps across the College Hills. While Arson investigator John Orr races to the scene, 13-year old twin sisters Christina and Jennifer Raggio flee their family home just steps ahead of the flames. Is this the work of the same serial arsonist?
Chapter Five | The Pillow Pyro
Fires break out all over Los Angeles, and ATF agent April Carroll is on the case. When she widens her investigation, she meets Bakersfield Arson Investigator Marvin Casey, who leads her to a suspect she never expected...and a manuscript for a novel that reads like a confession.
Chapter Six | The Novelist
It’s 1991. Investigators finally make an arrest in the largest arson investigation in history. Host Kary Antholis sits down with the author of “Points Of Origin.” Is his book a confession?
Chapter Seven | The Trial
The author of Points of Origin is on trail for murder. The evidence: his own words.
Chapter Eight | Call Me Back
Almost thirty years after their first conversation, Kary tracks down America's most notorious serial arsonist, hoping to answer the question of 'why?'
Chapter Nine | Family Secrets
Host Kary Antholis uncovers a hidden side of America's most prolific serial arsonist…by speaking to the people he was closest to.
Chapter Ten | Jekyll and Hyde
Host Kary Antholis explores the two sides of America's most prolific arsonist in preparation for one last confrontation.
Epilogue 1 | The Fifth Victim
Investigators believed that the novel Points of Origin was based on real fires set by its author. But did its darker passages detail a brutal assault and murder?
Epilogue 2 | The D.C. Arsonist
For decades, Washington D.C. was terrorized by a serial arsonist who set hundreds of fires. In letters to journalist Dave Jamieson, that arsonist discussed his strange motivations, and a murder no one knew about.