
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, November 9, 1993                   TAG: 9311090210
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES                                LENGTH: Medium

MAN CHARGED IN ARSON LETTERS

A convicted child molester with a long criminal record, including an arrest at age 9 for allegedly attempting to set fire to a church, was arraigned in federal court Monday, charged with mailing letters in which he threatened to set fires in Southern California.

Thomas Lee Larsen, 43, has not been charged with arson. But sources familiar with the case said he is considered a suspect in several of the fires that ripped across the region during the past two weeks, burning more than 200,000 acres and causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damage. The letter was sent to at least 35 people and law enforcement agencies, and the author signed them as "Fedbuster." In an affidavit filed Monday, federal agents said Larsen had at first denied and later admitted being the author of the letter.

U.S. Attorney Terree Bowers, in a brief written statement, stressed that Larsen was not being linked to "any specific fire or act of arson." At least for now, Bowers added, Larsen would only be charged with mailing threats to damage or destroy by means of fire, an offense that carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

But while officials were declining to comment publicly on Larsen's possible connection to the recent fires, sealed documents filed with the federal court and obtained by the Los Angeles Times disclose that officials have concluded that Larsen "clearly and completely matches the profile of a serial arsonist," and that there is probable cause that Larsen set a number of arson fires.

Keywords:
FATALITY

by CNB