Man arrested for starting house fire


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Police say a man stalked an Ogden girl for months and then set fire to her grandparents' house.

Jason Murray, 21, is accused of starting the fire at an Ogden home earlier this week.

Officers say he had a previous relationship with the couple's granddaughter after meeting her on a networking site.

Both police and the grandmother of the 17-year-old girl say this Internet relationship has been going on for several years, but when the relationship ended, that's when Murray started stalking her. He eventually came to Ogden and set fire to her grandparents' house.

Ogden police say Murray was arrested just outside Pendleton, Ore., on Tuesday. They say he was making his way to Washington where the girl has been staying.

Police say the girl had run away to be with Murray in Canada, but left following a domestic assault.

Man arrested for starting house fire

She eventually made her way across the border to be with friends in Washington.

The girl's grandmother says he had some sort of control over her granddaughter, even convincing her they were going to get married.

Sherrie health, victim's grandmother, said, "We knew how dangerous he was. We knew that from the beginning, from the first time we met him."

Man arrested for starting house fire

Police say Murray started making threats to the girl and her family. He even went as far as impersonating a police officer from Ogden City and changing his caller ID to Ogden City dispatch so he could trick the family into giving him her location.

Lt. Tony Fox, with the Ogden City Major Crimes Bureau, says, "His intentions were to get her back, and he was going to use any means possible to get her back, even the threat of ‘you contact me, or I will hurt and destroy everything you know and love because I love you.'"

Man arrested for starting house fire

Police say they were able to track Murray down from a taxi cab driver who dropped him off at the bus depot in Ogden just after the fire started.

Greyhound tracked his ticket, and authorities in Ogden made the arrest.

Murray could come back to Utah to face the aggravated arson charges, but as the investigation continues he could face more charges as well.

E-mail: spark@ksl.com
E-mail: mgiauque@ksl.com

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