A New Jersey man who was once praised for attempting to save his elderly next-door neighbor from a house fire is now suspected of setting her home ablaze and killing her.
William Ahle, 70, was charged with first-degree murder, first-degree felony murder, first-degree burglary, and second-degree aggravated arson in connection with the death of 82-year-old Virginia Cranwell.
The deadly fire took place on July 25 at Cranwell’s home in Fanwood, a small town in north-central New Jersey.
Fire crews were called to the home at 1:30 a.m. that morning and tried to rescue Cranwell after learning she was trapped inside.
Ahle’s son told news outlets that his father also tried to save Cranwell before firefighters and first responders got to the scene.
In July, Ahle’s son told local news outlets that his father was walking his dog at 1:30 a.m., saw the fire, and stormed the home searching for Cranwell. He was hospitalized with second-degree burns afterward.
“He just looked, saw the flames, went in. He apparently opened the bedroom door and all the flames just burst out, he fell backwards and I guess that’s how he got all his burns,” Matthew Ahle told WNBC. “I’m happy he tried, he tried his best. I can’t imagine anyone else who would do that.”
Now, prosecutors believe that Ahle was the one who set the fire and murdered Cranwell.
In a news release, the Union County Prosecutor’s Office shared that an investigation led authorities to suspect Ahle was the culprit. Fire officials also later determined the cause of the fire to be an intentional act, and the Union County Medical Examiner’s Office officially ruled Cranwell’s death a homicide.
Neighbors who heard news about Ahle’s arrest expressed shock at the development, saying he was well-known and beloved by the community.
“He was known as the mayor of the street. Because he’s very helpful. He looks out for a lot of people around the neighborhood,” one neighbor told WABC.
“I can just say that I’m shocked. He’s a neighbor, and he seems like a great guy. And he originally helped her. He tried to save her. So it doesn’t make any sense, I just don’t understand,” another neighbor said.
Authorities have not yet released a motive for the killing.
Ahle’s attorney, Steve Wukovits, says there is no motive because there was no murder. He defended his client’s innocence, described Ahle as a “family man,” and characterized his decades-long relationship with Cranwell as “terrific” and “friendly.”
“There’s no motive here, absolutely no motive whatsoever, for killing a neighbor that he and his wife knew for over 30 years,” Wukovits told NBC News.
Ahle’s family has yet to comment on the arrest.
Cranwell’s daughter, Yvonne McManus, recalled when Ahle, a retired corrections officer, called her the night of the fire. McManus, who lived nearby, said she immediately rushed over to her mother’s home.
She said she saw Ahle right before he was taken to the hospital and he told her how he tried to open her bedroom door to save Cranwell, but ended up getting burned.
“I gave him a big hug and everything,” McManus told The New York Times. “I did not know he was a murderer. This was someone that was supposed to a friend for all these years.”
She said she started to suspect something was wrong when she began to learn more about the fire investigation from authorities.
“They said the fire was contained in the bedroom, that it started right in front of her bedroom door and she was trapped in the bedroom,” McManus said. “In fact, someone from the fire or the police told me at the time, ‘Your mom’s house must have been really insulated — it was such a hot fire, and it didn’t spread to anywhere in the house.’”
An obituary for Cranwell said the 82-year-old was “full of warmth, beauty, and kindness.”
“She will be remembered for her extraordinary physical beauty-youthful, graceful, and effortlessly striking. She loved being recognized and remembered, and she often was. With a flower in her hair and her lipstick just right, she always looked like a living portrait-vibrant and lovely,” the obituary read.
