MOBILE, Ala. - In the aftermath of a fire that destroyed a Gulf Coast Italian restaurant, authorities not only charged the landlord with arson, but they learned the tenant - a former Buford, Ga., resident who barely escaped the blaze - has his own criminal past.
Tommy Lunceford, 62, a former Auburn University punter who is described by authorities as mentally unstable, has been ordered jailed until trial on charges of arson, obstruction of justice and intimidating law enforcement officers investigating the 3:30 a.m. fire on Nov. 8, 2007, at Nick's restaurant.
U.S. Magistrate Judge William Cassady issued the order jailing Lunceford last week to protect potential witnesses and because of Lunceford's physical and mental problems. The judge noted that Lunceford was nearly killed in a beating in October in a seedy section of Foley, Ala., in an unrelated incident still not fully explained.
The burned property had been leased to Nick and Cathy Cascario, who operated the Italian restaurant on busy Highway 59, the link from Interstate 10 to Gulf beaches. They were living in an upstairs apartment and escaped the fire, which killed their dog Duchess.
Federal authorities said Nick Cascario immediately told them about his felony conviction in a multimillion-dollar real estate scheme in California in 1981 and that he fled during his trial to Tennessee and remained a fugitive for 11 years until being recaptured and prosecuted. He served part of a 10-year sentence.
He also admitted that Cascario is an alias for Richard Joseph Morrell, as he was known in the California case.
More recently, Cascario, 66, had moved to Gulf Shores from Buford, Ga., in the midst of another probe.
The Federal Trade Commission investigated deceptive practices at his Holiday Ink franchises, which sold ink cartridges until being shut down in 2007 by the government.
The Gulf Shores fire has drawn the attention of those who lost investments with Cascario's business in Georgia and continue to track his moves around the country, posting his background on the Internet.
In an interview with The Associated Press, John McConnaughey of Washougal, Wash., said he won a $24,000 court judgment against Cascario that he's still trying to collect. He said he was one of about 400 investors who sued to recover lost investments in Holiday Ink distributorships.
He said Lunceford originally contacted him through an Internet search after Cascario stopped paying the rent and that Lunceford told Cascario's disgruntled former investors that Cascario was in Gulf Shores.
``That was kind of the beginning of the end of the restaurant business,'' McConnaughey said.
Lunceford's attorney, public defender Fred W. Tiemann of Mobile, said Lunceford was trying to evict Cascario, who stood to lose thousands of dollars that he had invested in the restaurant. He said the ``bitter nature of the dispute provides ample evidence of motive'' for Cascario to retaliate against Lunceford, who has no criminal record and no history of drug or alcohol abuse.
But the head of the arson investigation, Mark Sloke of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said the Cascarios were not suspects in the fire that could have killed them.
After the fire, the Cascarios reportedly moved to New Jersey, but prosecutors declined to say where they currently live because they are among potential witnesses.
Assistant U.S. Attorney George May contends the evidence against Lunceford is ``nothing short of overwhelming.'' A petroleum accelerant was used in the fire and the sprinkler system had been shut off from outside the building.
May described Lunceford as ``extremely mentally unstable and delusional.''
Prosecutors contend more than $1 million in insurance money paid to the mortgage-holder was a motive for the arson, which occurred as the bank was about to foreclose on the restaurant.
In ordering Lunceford's pretrial detention, Cassady noted that Lunceford's common-law wife, Judy Kelly, paid $174,000 as a down payment on the restaurant property and there has been no showing of the value of Lunceford's interest in a partnership with her. Lunceford told probation officials he has lived on Social Security disability payments since he broke both legs in 1999.
Wednesday
October 9th, 2024
6:23AM
