Pocono News Section

Scranton Triple Murder House Goes Up in Flames

Scranton Triple Murder House Goes Up in Flames - Sunday, November 9, 2008 at 5:14PM EST

Reported by: Eric Deabill
Sunday, Nov 9, 2008 @ 05:14pm EST
SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY- An early morning fire damaged a Scranton home -- but this story has a twist. The home was the scene of a brutal triple murder this summer.

The house on South Irving Avenue has been empty since Randal Rushing allegedly went on a deadly rampage this summer. City police were back at the home investigating Sunday morning's blaze.

According to fire officials, they got the call just after 4:00 A. M. They found heavy smoke pouring from all the windows. Those windows are now broken and firefighters even had to cut a hole in the roof of the home to let the smoke escape.

The Fire Marshal in the City of Scranton will only say the cause of the fire is undetermined, but he points out the house was abandoned and condemned and had no power.

Of course as Eyewitness News has covered extensively over the last couple of months, the same home was the scene of a triple murder in July. That's where prosecutors say Randal Rushing brutally tortured and attacked several people inside. Justin Berrios and brothers Dustin Hintz and Leslie Collier were all killed.

Firefighters say the blaze posed problems because they could not enter the home because the building was still filled with blood from the day of the murders. Firefighters say they will return to the scene Monday to look for exactly how the fire started. Also, as of right now we don't know if any evidence from the murder scene was compromised.

Eyewitness News will continue to follow the story. Scranton police are back guarding the house once again.