Conn. Firefighter Turned Serial Arsonist Sentenced

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. -- Former Trumbull volunteer firefighter turned serial arsonist Christopher Message was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison for setting fires in Fairfield, Easton and Monroe that destroyed homes and businesses and caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage.

His hands shaking, Message, 35, read Superior Court Judge Robert Devlin a statement he had written acknowledging he "caused fear, destruction, tears and sadness," in the community with his actions.

"I will make no excuses for my actions. This is an apology, not a plea to feel sorrow for me and how I lost my way. Ultimately it is me who chooses my doings. I chose wrong," he stated.

His lawyer, Assistant Public Defender Corrie-Ann Mainville, while pointing out that her client has a history of psychiatric problems and alcohol abuse, added: "He takes full responsibility for his actions and doesn't use any underlying problems as an excuse. Though these fires may have given Christopher Message some sense of great power when he set them, when they got out of hand he did call authorities."

And then, Messages' mother rolled up before the judge in a motorized wheelchair and apologized for not making her presence known earlier.

"I love him, he is my son," she told the judge, her voice cracking with emotion. "I know he has done wrong but I know he would never do this without being medically mismanaged. I beg your honor to be lenient to him."

While Devlin acknowledged the mother's heartfelt plea, he nonetheless responded, "Everyone in this room has had difficulties in their lives and have managed them as well as they can."

Then looking at Message, he continued: "You burned down several houses, it is just almost providential there wasn't a young child in one of those houses or you could have been standing here looking at a murder charge. It was deeply offending to the community and you have to pay a debt to society."

The judge then ordered Message, who previously pleaded guilty to six counts of second-degree arson, two counts of third-degree arson, three counts of first-degree criminal mischief and one count of reckless burning, to serve 20 years, suspended after 10 years in prison and followed by five years probation. When he is released on probation the judge ordered him to do 100 hours of community service and to make restitution for the damage he caused.

According to Senior Assistant State's Attorney Howard Stein, Message, who had served as a volunteer firefighter in Trumbull set 11 fires between July and September 2011. A Fairfield firefighters suffered second and third-degree burns to his hand while fighting one of the blazes.

The first fire occurred on July 19, 2011 at Pulver Motors on Kings Highway East in Fairfield. Stein said Message later told his girlfriend he set the fire because he thought he had gotten a bad deal there on a car.

Subsequent fires included those that heavily damaged the Rustic Grill in Monroe and two barbershops there on Aug. 8, a dumpster and boat fire in Easton and then fires in vacant houses in Fairfield on Sept. 8 at 1300 North Benson Road, 321 Woodridge Ave., and 53 Cornell Road.

Following his arrest, police said Message confessed to setting the fires and went with detectives back to the scenes where he demonstrated how he had set the fires.

Police said after Message set fire to the Cornell Road home he told them he became frustrated when firefighters and emergency personnel didn't immediately respond to the scene. They said he called 911 twice on his cell phone identifying himself as "John Doe." The second time he told the dispatcher he was not sure if someone was in the house. And when firefighters did arrive, Message was parked nearby. He wanted to make sure safety personnel had arrived on the scene, he told police.

Message told detectives he torched both the Monroe barbershops because he felt the owners had been rude to him when he had tried to get a job there.

Message subsequently went to work at a Bridgeport barbershop.

Copyright 2012 - Connecticut Post, Bridgeport

McClatchy-Tribune News Service