FIREMAN, YOUTHS ACCUSED OF ARSON IN FAIRVIEW FIRE HELD IN MAY 9 BLAZE AT HOUSE

By Michael O. Allen and Lisa Rein, Record Staff Writers | Friday, July 26, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | Four Star B | NEWS | Page B03

A 21-year-old volunteer firefighter and two borough juveniles were arrested Wednesday on charges that they broke into an abandoned house on May 9, doused it with kerosene, and set it on fire, officials said.
George Joseph Leuffgen of Maple Street and two 17-year-olds, whom Bergen County Prosecutor John J. Fahy declined to identify because of their age, were charged Thursday with burglary and aggravated arson.
Fahy said someone cut off a padlock in the rear of the single-family house at 658 Prospect Ave. on the day of the fire. The fire started in the first-floor bathroom of the house and was reported about 1:10 a.m., he said.
“When investigators went to the scene right after the fire,” Fahy said, “there was a strong odor of kerosene.”
Investigators subsequently received information that Leuffgen was involved in setting the fire. He was arrested about 6:35 p.m. Wednesday, Fahy said.
Leuffgen was one of 80 firefighters on Fairview’s force. Craig Krivda, a councilman and the town’s fire commissioner, said he was searching for reasons why Leuffgen might have set a vacant house on fire.
“He’s a helpful guy who lends a hand whenever he’s around,” Krivda said. “Maybe for the younger guys, this is something exciting, to set a fire and put it out. I can’t figure this out.”
The prosecutor also said he did not know why Leuffgen, a four-year veteran of the department, set the fire.
“The fireman [Leuffgen] had no proprietary interest in the house. He would have gained nothing, as far as we could determine,” Fahy said.
Leuffgen was being held Thursday in the Bergen County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail. The juveniles were released to the custody of their parents.

Keywords: FAIRVIEW; FIREMAN; YOUTH; ARSON; PROBE

SON HELD IN KILLING OF MOTHER; SHE WAS STABBED, BURNED IN RAMSEY

By Michael O. Allen and Chrisena A. Coleman, Record Staff Writers | Wednesday, September 19, 1990

The Record (New Jersey) | Four Star B | NEWS | Page A01

The youngest son of a Ramsey woman who was stabbed to death and burned 10 days ago was charged with murder and arson Tuesday.
Lee Vozza, 27, who relatives said lived off-and-on at his parents home at 128 Deer Trail North, was arrested in Rye, N.Y. He was being held without bail in Westchester County Jail pending a psychiatric evaluation.
Bergen County Prosecutor John J. Fahy said his office would seek to have Vozza extradited to New Jersey. The prosecutor charges that Vozza stabbed his mother, Stephini Vozza, 54, 11 times in the neck and torso before setting the family house on fire in the early morning of Sept. 9.
Assistant Prosecutor Sharyn Peiffer said arson investigators found a blanket that smelled of gasoline next to the victim’s body.
However, Peiffer said, “She died of stab wounds. She did not die of carbon monoxide inhalation or burning due to the fire.”
Peiffer, head of homicide investigations, refused to comment on a possible motive for the killing.
The fire raged through the modern wood-and-glass, split-level home for about 30 minutes near 4 a.m. on Sept. 9. The contents of the house were burned beyond recognition, Peiffer said, and authorities could not determine if any items might be missing.
“The only charges filed right now are the murder and the arson charges,” Peiffer said. “Investigation is continuing into what was missing from the house. “
Fahy said Ramsey police put out a missing person alarm and stolen car report after determining that Lee Vozza and the victim’s 1980 Oldsmobile were gone after the fire.
Police in Rye found a disoriented Vozza at the Metro-North railroad station in that community early Tuesday.
“He was just sitting there looking real spacey, just staring straight ahead,” said Rye Police Detective Gene Berry.
Berry talked to Vozza, then led him across a parking lot to the nearby police station, where he asked Vozza his name and checked it through a police computer.
Peiffer said Vozza had apparently been staying at different New York locations since the fire.

Keywords: MURDER ; ARSON ; FIRE ; FAMILY ; RAMSEY

SON HELD IN KILLING OF MOTHER; SHE WAS STABBED, BURNED IN RAMSEY

By Michael O. Allen and Chrisena A. Coleman, Record Staff Writers | Wednesday, September 19, 1990

The Record (New Jersey) | Four Star B | NEWS | Page A01

The youngest son of a Ramsey woman who was stabbed to death and burned 10 days ago was charged with murder and arson Tuesday.

Lee Vozza, 27, who relatives said lived off-and-on at his parents home at 128 Deer Trail North, was arrested in Rye, N.Y. He was being held without bail in Westchester County Jail pending a psychiatric evaluation.

Bergen County Prosecutor John J. Fahy said his office would seek to have Vozza extradited to New Jersey. The prosecutor charges that Vozza stabbed his mother, Stephini Vozza, 54, 11 times in the neck and torso before setting the family house on fire in the early morning of Sept. 9.

Assistant Prosecutor Sharyn Peiffer said arson investigators found a blanket that smelled of gasoline next to the victim’s body.

However, Peiffer said, “She died of stab wounds. She did not die of carbon monoxide inhalation or burning due to the fire.”

Peiffer, head of homicide investigations, refused to comment on a possible motive for the killing.

The fire raged through the modern wood-and-glass, split-level home for about 30 minutes near 4 a.m. on Sept. 9. The contents of the house were burned beyond recognition, Peiffer said, and authorities could not determine if any items might be missing.

“The only charges filed right now are the murder and the arson charges,” Peiffer said. “Investigation is continuing into what was missing from the house.”

Fahy said Ramsey police put out a missing person alarm and stolen car report after determining that Lee Vozza and the victim’s 1980 Oldsmobile were gone after the fire.

Police in Rye found a disoriented Vozza at the Metro-North railroad station in that community early Tuesday.

“He was just sitting there looking real spacey, just staring straight ahead,” said Rye Police Detective Gene Berry.

Berry talked to Vozza, then led him across a parking lot to the nearby police station, where he asked Vozza his name and checked it through a police computer.

Peiffer said Vozza had apparently been staying at different New York locations since the fire.