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[Music] this is my domain my hell today we're talking about a case where the crucial evidence that
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broke It Wide Open was so disturbing so unusual investigators had quite literally never seen anything like it
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and today you're going to see it too I'm Olivia Lavo journalist and creator of the case File presents podcast the
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Bakersfield 3 I've teamed up with case File to bring you some of their most memorable cases in a visual format
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today's case is based on case File episode number 2080 the Stockton arsonist it was a
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blazing hot August day in Stockton California in 1989 when a man War calling Joseph was driving along the
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highway with his wife and son when their car began to overheat Joseph's wife decided to wait behind while Joseph and
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his son walked to find help as the pair walked down the steaming Road and cars whipped by the boy noticed a crumbled up
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camo jacket on the ground a military style unit patch was sewn onto the sleeve when the boy went to inspect it
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he found an unmarked VHS tape buried underneath of it out of curiosity the boy grabbed the tape and he and his
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father were on their way the entire family later on was intrigued apparently so when they got home they all gathered
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around the tele television set and put the tape into the VCR it looked like some type of home movie shot in the
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darkness suddenly a single story Ranch House came into frame it was fully engulfed in flames and then the
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narration began a man's voice in a hushed but excited tone began describing the home's fiery demise see what I could
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do ladies and gentlemen it seemed fairly clear the person behind the camera was the one who started the fire he also
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began addressing someone named Omar look at it Omar this is what I've been doing on
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your week's vacation as the video continued Sirens began to whail in the background it appeared firefighters were
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getting to the scene suddenly the tape shifted to an actual horror movie Nightmare on Elm Street it wasn't clear
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if the fire footage had been taped over the movie or if it had been purposely edited this way
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the family was obviously horrified and immediately brought the tape to police now arson investigators with the
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California Department of Forestry took on the case and started by going to the area of the highway where that tape had
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first been discovered and sure enough that camo jacket was still there upon inspecting it investigators found
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several audio cassette tapes of heavy metal music there was a glove found in the jacket as well as a small ceramic SC
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Gull and a little wooden device used to grind and crush up herbs investigators suspected these items could have some
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sort of devil worship tie in keep in mind this was 1989 so the US was very much still in that satanic Panic stage
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which essentially was a mass fear that devil worshippers all over the country were committing all sorts of crimes and
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investigators on this arson case noticed the anonymous arsonist frequently referring to hell and evil look at it
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look at it look at the fire this is my domain my hell one of the investigator big questions early on was did the
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arsonist intentionally leave these items specifically that tape for someone to find or did the per intend to come back
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for it regardless the tape was the best shot investigators had at figuring out who was behind it much of what the
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arsonist said on the recording was hard to make out because he whispered but the
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name Omar was clear investigators theorized that Omar might be the arsonist term for the devil they even
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speculated it was possible he was saying Omar which is German for Grandma but the
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most popular theory was that Omar was another man's name possibly the owner of the home being burned to the ground with
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the likely significance of the name Omar investigators began referring to the fire as the Omar fire one of the biggest
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initial obstacles was not knowing where the home that had been set on fire was located if they could only get an
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address they might just be on their way to solving the case the home in the video appeared to be a single story
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ranch style home that was under construction investigators combed through reports of house fires in the
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area to see if anything appeared to fit the bill but but they kept coming up empty they began to wonder if the fire
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even happened in California period and Dread began to set in for quite a few of the investigators one who apparently
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couldn't sleep after watching the tape and others feared that this might just be the start of a crime spree that would
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escalate and quickly for example the New York based serial killer the Son of Sam
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started out with arson before moving on to murder investigators spent a full year trying to find the location of the
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Omar fire before ultimately deciding they needed the media's help so they went to the producers of the Prime Time
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television program Unsolved Mysteries the best the episode aired in September of 1990 the night the episode premiered
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one viewer felt a wave of shock fall over him as he saw a clip of that disturbing video his name was Ed and he
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lived in Redwood City California about 80 Mi west of where the videotape had been found a year earlier Ed immediately
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recognized the burning structure as a home that had been built behind his it had been under construction when the
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fire was set 2 years earlier in August 1988 the tape was found almost exactly one year later Ed immediately called the
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Unsolved Mysteries tip line and it turned out he wasn't the only viewer who recognized the house the cont contractor
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of the home a man named Bill had poured quite a lot into that house it was over 4,000 square ft built in Redwood City's
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Emerald Lake neighborhood it was an expensive project with the home valued at just under $900,000 now think about
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how much money that was in 1988 today that would be more like $2,250,000 anyways when Bill discovered his project
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had been burnt to the ground he reportedly Sat by the ashes and wept and when the home was later rebuilt he even
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paid employees to stay overnight and stand guard he could not believe his eyes when he saw the footage on Unsolved
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Mysteries of his home being burnt to the ground Bill and Ed were two of 1600 tipsters to call into Unsolved Mysteries
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many people from across the country called in to report fires in the area they thought thought were similar to the
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Omar fire but a few phone calls from San Mato County California stood out the most now 3 years earlier in summer
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1987 that was when it began for Emerald Lake Hills neighborhood in Redwood City when they began experiencing a slew of
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fires all were determined to have been started from gasoline and Molotov cocktails as many as 30 fires were
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thought to be connected to the attack most of the homes set on fire burned out naturally before causing any significant
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damage to the structures but a few of the fires destroyed homes under construction including the home that was
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in the video now back in 1987 and 1988 prior to the discovery of that videotape investigators theorized that the
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arsonist was terrorizing the area because they were angry at the development of new hom homes in the
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previous rural area now during this time San Mato County received Federal funding
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for a new sewer system which led to increased residential construction itd come at the perfect time as the county
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was in the heart of the Silicone Valley which was rapidly growing alongside the tech companies's base there so as more
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people moved to the area more homes were needed and the property value was rapidly increasing in November 1988 a
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100-year-old cabin was in the process of being turned into a luxurious home when
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it was burned down investigators discovered a message scrawled on a wall inside that read quote neighbors Revolt
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please no more new houses and now investigators in San Mato County believed that investigators 80 M away in
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Stockton were looking for the same arsonist they had been looking for for the last couple years and get this when
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firefighters got to the scene of what would later be called the Omar fire they set up their own video camera to record
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it for training purposes so comparing their footage was even more confirmation that the two jurisdictions were in fact
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investigating the same case it also confirmed that firefighters had been standing just feet away from the
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arsonist as he made his home movie the fire department's trying to put it out and the Unsolved Mysteries
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episode had uncovered the location of the fire but there was another crucial tip that came in from a woman named
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Doris who lived near the home that burned down in the Omar fire and the name Omar jumped out to her immediately
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see the family that lived next door to her had a 17-year-old son named Omar who was no stranger to getting in trouble
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when authorities went to question the teen he almost immediately broke down and explained he had a friend that was 2
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years older than him and together they had started the fire and filmed it Omar explained that he decided to remain
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silent while his friend narrated The Blaze now the friend was a 19-year-old named Jason which is not his real name
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instead of investigators immediately bringing him for questioning they decided to place him under surveillance
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and it just so happened that as they did that Jason's garage burned down and as investigators combed through the rubble
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they found knives and saws that were stained with blood yep and mutilated animal remains they also found a Freddy
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Krueger mask the villain from Nightmare on Elm Street and if you're not super familiar with the film here's a recap
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the evil spirit of Krueger seeks revenge on a group of teens as after he's burned
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alive in a boiler room in a fire that was set with Molotov cocktails now after discovering all of
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this investigators brought Jason in for questioning and just like with Omar Jason was quick to crack investigators
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believed Jason was a very troubled young man he was described as being Sullen and
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withdrawn one moment and deeply emotional the next when investigators searched Jason's home they found other
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videotapes that he made that appeared to follow the media coverage of the Omar fire he also had footage of black spray
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painted letters on a wall that read no more houses which was strikingly similar to the graffiti found at the
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100-year-old cabin that was burnt down in 1988 there were also more home movies with Omar in them one appeared to be
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Jason walking around with a hunchback and vampire master gone he snarled at the camera with an upside down cross
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painted on his forehead I'm on my way to get that fat son of a and I'm going to kill him I'm
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hungry tonight cuz tonight is the night where all evil and satanic War shippers come where Satan rises again and
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fulfills the destiny of hatred and evil and sin in another clip Jason is shown wielding a knife at a dummy he refers to
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as father Jason then asked the dummy how it was doing and then said quote hope you're doing real good then stabbed the
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dummy in the chest and used the knife to slice its head off another video showed
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Omar and Jason playing some type of War Style game in a rural area that investig
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ators believed to be the Emerald Lake Hills neighborhood which is where they had now admitted to burning down at
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least one home now investigators opinion in terms of if these two had motive definitely differed some say they didn't
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and others say they believe that the boys were upset about the construction in the area that they seem to enjoy
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hanging out at in total arson investigators linked Jason and Omar to the burning of 11 buildings and a total
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of 15 separate grassfires investigators estimated that they caused over $2 million in damage even though
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Jason was 19 at the time of his arrest he was 17 at the time of the Omar fire and other crimes so both he and Omar
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were tried as juveniles Omar served time in a juvenile detention center and Jason
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was sent to a mental health hospital now this is pretty fascinating to me the boy's identities have never been
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publicly released so it's really not known what's happened to either of them after they were sentenced but according
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to some online sleuths who have said they believe that they have uncovered Jason's true identity he died in 2017 at
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the age of 45 after walking along a highway in San Mato County where he supposedly tripped and stumbled into the
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road now although the fire took place about an hour and a half away from Stockton California where the tape was
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found the case remains heavily associated with Stockton and it is still a mystery why or how Jason and Omar's
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tape got there in the first place well I would love to hear your guys' thoughts about this one in the comments thank you
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for watching until next time good night ladies and gentlemen your house is next