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This episode was originally released

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platform. Tuesday,

1:34

August 15, 1989 was a very hot summer's day

1:36

in California's Central Valley. Joseph

1:46

Villa, not his real name, was driving

1:48

near the 205 highway

1:50

in Stockton with his wife and

1:52

son when their car overheated. Joseph

1:56

pulled over on a quiet side road and

1:58

propped up the car's bike. on it to

2:00

inspect the damage. Realising

2:03

it was too severe to fix without

2:05

assistance, Joseph decided he and his son

2:07

would walk to the nearest payphone to

2:10

call for help, while his wife waited

2:12

at the car. As

2:15

the father and son headed down the

2:17

dusty road in search of a phone,

2:19

the boy noticed an old military fatigue

2:21

jacket in a camouflage print crumpled on

2:23

the ground. A

2:25

military-style unit patch was crudely sewn

2:28

on it. He

2:30

kicked at the jacket and revealed

2:32

an unmarked VHS cassette tape bundled

2:34

underneath. Curious about

2:36

what might be on there, he and his

2:38

dad took it with them to watch later.

2:43

At home, the Villa family inserted

2:45

the videotape into their VCR and

2:47

hit play. They

2:50

gathered around the television. It

2:53

appeared to contain footage of a home movie.

2:57

Whoever had shot it had done so

2:59

outside at night. Most

3:02

of their surroundings were shrouded in darkness,

3:05

but in the centre of the screen

3:07

a short distance away from the cameraman

3:10

was a single-storey ranch house. The

3:13

entire building was on fire. Crackling

3:17

sounds could be heard as the

3:19

blaze overwhelmed the house's timber frame.

3:23

The person behind the camera was

3:25

clearly eager to record every second

3:27

of the building's destruction. A

3:30

male voice appeared in the

3:32

background, seemingly narrating the unfolding

3:34

disaster. His

3:37

voice was hushed and his tone

3:39

excited. For

4:00

hell, the whole sky is

4:03

black with smoke. And

4:09

I will enjoy... a

4:14

somewhat... dangerous

4:17

than us, for evil. It

4:45

seemed as though the person who had filmed

4:47

the fire was also the one responsible for

4:49

starting it. He began

4:51

addressing somebody he called Omar.

4:55

I can't eat no more. This

4:58

is what I've been doing on your week's

5:00

vacation. I

5:03

shall do it. I shall

5:05

do it. Soon

5:10

sirens could be heard as firefighters rushed

5:12

to the scene. Their

5:15

loud wailing noise seemed to prompt

5:17

neighborhood coyotes to howl in reply.

5:21

The unseen narrator behind the camera

5:23

continued to narrate the scene. The

5:27

fire department is trying to put it out. What

5:29

a laugh. It's

5:33

a laugh. What

5:37

a mumble-nose. It's a nice, late-night

5:40

adventure. Your

5:43

house is next. The

5:49

tape then shifted to footage from the

5:51

horror film A Nightmare on Elm Street,

5:53

recorded straight off a televised airing. It

5:57

wasn't clear if the inferno footage had been taped

5:59

over the mirror. movie or edited in

6:01

for a reason. The

6:04

Villa family were shocked and wasted no

6:06

time in passing the tape along to

6:08

the authorities. Arson

6:11

investigators at California's Department of

6:13

Forestry took responsibility for the

6:15

case. One

6:17

of them went back to where the villas had found

6:19

the tape. The

6:21

fatigue jacket was still there. Wrapped

6:24

up inside the garment were a few

6:27

audio cassettes featuring heavy metal music. Lying

6:30

nearby was a single glove in

6:32

the same camouflage print as the

6:34

jacket. The

6:37

investigator also discovered a small ceramic

6:39

skull and a wooden pestle over

6:41

the type used to grind and

6:43

crush herbs. As

6:47

it was 1989, investigators suspected

6:49

these latter two items suggested

6:51

some kind of a cult

6:53

connection. Throughout

6:56

the 1980s and early 90s, many

6:58

law enforcement agencies in the United

7:00

States were swept up in what

7:02

later became known as the Satanic

7:04

Panic, a fear that groups

7:07

of people who worshipped the Christian figure

7:09

of the Devil were committing crimes around

7:11

the country. The

7:14

investigators responsible for looking into

7:16

the Stockton Arsonist tape had

7:18

noted the Arsonist's frequent references

7:20

to Hell and Evil. They

7:24

suspected the ceramic skull was some

7:26

kind of demonic talisman and the

7:28

pestle might have been used in

7:30

satanic rituals. Investigators

7:33

just weren't sure why the videotape had

7:35

been left with the other items by

7:37

the side of the road. Maybe

7:40

the perpetrator had stashed them there and

7:42

intended to return, or

7:44

perhaps he felt a thrill at the thought

7:46

of his work being discovered and wanted it

7:49

to be found. review

8:00

the tape for evidence. The

8:03

fact that the arsonist often spoke in

8:05

a stage whisper made it difficult to

8:07

understand much of what he said, so

8:10

investigators watched the tape over and

8:12

over again and painstakingly crafted a

8:15

transcript of the audio. The

8:18

repeated references to someone called Omar

8:21

caught their attention. They

8:24

theorized that maybe Omar was the

8:26

arsonist's turn for the devil, or

8:28

perhaps he even used it as slang for

8:30

the police. The

8:33

idea that the arsonist could actually

8:35

be saying Omar, the German word

8:37

for grandmother, was also floated. But

8:40

the most popular theories were that Omar

8:43

was someone's name, possibly the owner of

8:45

the house shown burning on the film.

8:50

Investigators noted that on the left side of

8:52

the screen there was a white trailer by

8:54

a neighboring property. This

8:56

suggested that the ranch house set alight

8:59

had actually been under construction at the

9:01

time. Maybe

9:03

Omar was the head of the building crew

9:05

and the arsonist was one of his laborers.

9:09

If the arsonist had been fired by

9:11

Omar, then that could point to a

9:13

motive of revenge. What

9:17

they really needed to uncover was the

9:19

property's location. If

9:21

they could pinpoint a specific address then they

9:23

would be on their way to solving the

9:25

case. Investigators

9:28

tried to zoom in on the house to see

9:30

if a street name or number was visible, but

9:33

they were unable to spot anything. The

9:37

arsonist had filmed the moment that

9:39

firefighters arrived, so the investigators also

9:42

tried enhancing footage of their truck.

9:45

Perhaps they could see some kind of

9:47

identification number or county name emblazoned on

9:49

the vehicle. Once

9:52

again, they had no success. The

9:56

property was a single story ranch house

9:58

with two chimneys. and it appeared to

10:00

have been under construction at the time that was

10:03

burned. Investigators

10:05

combed through reports of house fires in the

10:07

region to see if anything fit the bill,

10:10

but found no matches. They

10:13

began to wonder whether the blaze had

10:15

even taken place in California. The

10:19

205 highway was just a few yards

10:21

from where the tape was found and

10:23

it linked to several other major highways

10:26

that stretched out across the country. Investigators

10:31

began to worry that they might never

10:33

find the person responsible for what they

10:35

had dubbed the Omar Fire. This

10:39

thought concerned more than one of them. Frank

10:43

Curry, a fire captain at the California

10:45

Department of Forestry, had been so disturbed

10:47

by the footage of the tape that

10:50

he'd struggled to sleep after first watching

10:52

it. Doug

10:55

Allen, a law enforcement coordinator at

10:57

the department, feared that the person

10:59

responsible could go on to commit

11:01

further, more violent crimes. He

11:04

was well aware that some criminals, such

11:06

as New York serial killer Son of

11:08

Sam, had started their crime sprees with

11:10

arson before moving on to murder. Doug

11:14

Allen, quote, I

11:17

think the person who made this videotape

11:19

and is responsible for the fire will,

11:22

without a doubt in my mind, continue

11:24

to set fires. And

11:26

the person needs to be apprehended

11:29

and stopped before his fires become

11:31

more destructive. Case

11:41

file will be back shortly. Thank

11:44

you for supporting us by listening to

11:46

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13:39

Investigators spent a year trying to figure out

13:41

the location of the fire, but finally accepted

13:43

that they had hit a dead end. Realizing

13:47

that the media might be one

13:49

way they could generate some leads,

13:51

they approached the producers of the

13:53

Primetime television program Unsolved Mysteries. and

14:00

unexplained paranormal phenomena, the

14:03

series explored unsolved crimes.

14:06

Viewers at home were encouraged to call

14:08

in to the show's hotline with any

14:10

information they might have. The

14:14

show's producers were keen to cover the

14:16

Yomar fire. Some

14:19

of the case investigators, including Doug

14:21

Allen and Frank Curry, appeared on

14:23

camera to discuss their concerns. The

14:26

show also depicted a reenactment of

14:28

how the mysterious and disturbing videotape

14:30

was found. The

14:33

episode aired on the night of Wednesday, September 19,

14:35

1990. As

14:40

Ed Tarantino sat in his Redwood City

14:43

home, approximately 80 miles west of where

14:45

the Villa family had found the tape,

14:48

a wave of shock washed over him. The

14:52

house shown burning on his television screen

14:54

was the very same one that sat

14:56

behind his own. It

14:59

had been under construction when the fire spread

15:01

more than two years earlier on August 15,

15:03

1988 and was subsequently rebuilt. Although

15:09

Ed had been aware of the

15:11

destructive blaze, the existence of a

15:14

creepy video of the entire thing

15:16

came as a disturbing surprise. He

15:19

called the Unsolved Mysteries Hotline. Ed

15:24

wasn't the only viewer who recognized the

15:26

property. Bill

15:29

Ottley was a contractor who'd struggled with

15:31

constructing a house back in the summer

15:33

of 1988. The

15:36

residence he had been building was a 4,200 square

15:39

foot home in Redwood City's Emerald

15:41

Lake Hills neighborhood. It

15:44

was an expensive undertaking, with the house

15:46

valued at $850,000. Just

15:51

after the home's plywood walls were put

15:53

up, the entire thing was burned down

15:56

under the cover of night. Bill

16:00

discovered what had happened, he had sat

16:02

by the destroyed shell of a house

16:04

and cried. The

16:07

house was rebuilt and during the second

16:09

attempt at construction, Bill had paid an

16:12

employee to stand guard over it at

16:14

night. As

16:17

Bill watched unsolved mysteries air footage

16:19

of the fire that had stumped

16:21

arson investigators over in Stockton, he

16:24

recognized the house being destroyed by

16:26

flames. He

16:28

was watching his own property burn to

16:30

the ground. In

16:39

the days after the episode aired, the

16:41

team at Unsolved Mysteries received a record-breaking

16:43

1600 phone calls. Some

16:47

offered theories about where the patch sewn

16:49

on the fatigued jacket had originated from

16:52

or what it signified. Others

16:55

called in from all over the country

16:57

to report house fires they thought matched

16:59

the one on the Stockton arsonist tape.

17:03

But it was the calls from the

17:05

San Mateo County area that fascinated investigators

17:08

the most. Three

17:11

years earlier, in the summer of 1987, the

17:13

Emerald Lake Hills neighborhood near

17:16

Redwood City began experiencing a

17:18

spate of fires. All

17:21

were started from gasoline and Molotov cocktails

17:23

and as many as 30 blazers

17:26

were thought to be connected to the attacks.

17:29

Most of them burned out naturally

17:32

before causing significant damage, but several

17:34

had destroyed new homes that were

17:37

under construction, including one belonging to

17:39

Bill Ottoli. San

17:43

Mateo County investigators had a theory.

17:46

They believed the arsonist was angry at

17:49

the development of what had been a

17:51

rural area. A

17:53

couple of years earlier, San Mateo County had

17:55

received federal funding for a new sewer system,

17:58

which led to a new sewer system. increased

18:00

residential construction. It

18:03

had come at the perfect time. The

18:05

county was in the heart of

18:07

Silicon Valley, which was rapidly growing

18:09

alongside the technology companies based there.

18:13

As more people moved to the area

18:16

for work, more homes were needed and

18:18

the region began to change. San

18:22

Franciscans in search of space started

18:24

to relocate to the quieter Redwood City

18:26

and to Emerald Lake Hills. In

18:30

November 1988, a

18:32

100-year-old cabin that was in the process

18:34

of being turned into a luxurious house

18:36

was burnt down. Investigators

18:40

discovered that the arsonist had scrawled a

18:42

message on a wall inside. Neighbours'

18:46

Revolt. Please. No

18:48

more new houses. Because

18:53

the attacks had taken place across

18:55

a five-square-mile area, authorities struggled to

18:58

pinpoint a suspect. But

19:00

now, several years after the fires

19:03

began, it seemed that other investigators

19:05

in a neighboring county had found

19:07

proof of the arsonists in the

19:09

form of a disturbing videotape. As

19:14

it happened, investigators in San Mateo

19:16

County also had footage of the

19:18

blaze that had destroyed Bill Oderle's

19:20

house. After

19:23

setting up the command post and dispatching

19:25

firefighters to put out the flames, the

19:27

fire captain had set up a video

19:29

camera to film the entire thing for

19:32

investigative and training purposes. The

19:35

recent outbreak of arson attacks had meant

19:37

capturing one on tape was more important

19:39

than ever. Investigators

19:43

were able to compare the footage from the

19:45

fire captain's video to that on the cassette

19:47

found by the Villa family. It

19:50

confirmed that not only were they both

19:53

of the same blaze, but that the

19:55

firefighters had been standing just 50 feet

19:57

away from the arsonist as he filmed

20:00

is handiwork. Casefile

20:12

will be back shortly. Thank

20:15

you for supporting us by listening to

20:17

this episode's sponsors. Thank

20:21

you for listening to this episode's ads.

20:24

By supporting our sponsors, you

20:26

support Casefile to continue to

20:28

deliver quality content. As

20:39

well as helping pinpoint the fire's

20:41

location, the involvement of Unsolved Mysteries

20:43

led to another crucial clue. A

20:47

woman named Doris Lance had also watched

20:49

the episode as a dead. She

20:52

too lived close to Bill Oderle's house

20:55

and she remembered the fire well. But

20:59

that wasn't the only thing that stood out to

21:01

her about the creepy footage. The

21:04

arsonist's repeated references to someone

21:07

called Omar caught Doris' attention.

21:11

She had a neighbor named Omar. He

21:14

was a 17-year-old boy who lived with his

21:17

family and had gotten into trouble on more

21:19

than one occasion. Doris

21:22

placed a call to investigators. When

21:26

the teenager was chased down and

21:28

interviewed, he quickly broke down under

21:30

questioning. Omar

21:33

explained that he had a friend who was

21:35

two years older than him. The

21:38

two of them had lit the fire

21:40

together and filmed the entire thing. Omar

21:44

had remained silent as the camcorder

21:47

recorded everything. His

21:49

friend was the one who had narrated the

21:51

blaze. Jason,

21:55

not his real name, was 19 years

21:57

old by the time he was brought

21:59

to investigate. investigators' attention. They

22:02

placed him under surveillance. During

22:06

the period when they were observing Jason,

22:08

the garage of his home happened to

22:10

catch on fire and burnt down. As

22:14

investigators combed through the rubble,

22:16

they found several interesting things.

22:20

There were knives and saws that appeared to

22:22

be stained with blood, some

22:24

mutilated animal chains, a

22:27

table where items had clearly been cut

22:29

up, and a

22:31

mask featuring the face of Freddy Kruger,

22:33

the villain from A Nightmare on Elm

22:36

Street. In

22:38

the film, the spirit of Kruger seeks

22:40

revenge on a group of teenagers after

22:42

their parents kill him by burning him

22:44

alive in a boiler room. They

22:47

light the fire with Molotov cocktails.

22:52

And with the disturbing evidence recovered

22:54

from Jason's garage just over a

22:56

week after the episode of Unsolved

22:58

Mysteries aired, investigators hauled

23:01

the 19-year-old in for questioning.

23:06

Just like Omar, Jason soon admitted

23:09

to everything. He

23:11

confirmed that he was behind the fire

23:13

on the videotape and had filmed the

23:15

entire thing. To

23:18

investigators, Jason appeared to be a

23:20

very troubled young man. At

23:22

times he was sullen and withdrawn, but then

23:25

he would start crying as he spoke about

23:27

what he had done. Armed

23:31

with a search warrant, investigators returned

23:33

to Jason's home in search of

23:35

further evidence. They

23:38

discovered that the tape found in Stockton

23:40

wasn't the only one he had made.

23:44

Further tapes recovered from Jason's residence

23:46

indicated he had followed news coverage

23:48

of his fires. He

23:50

had filmed a series of newspaper clippings

23:52

that covered the arson attacks and pinned

23:54

the articles to a wall. There

23:58

was also footage of black space. paint on

24:00

a wall that read, Please,

24:02

No More Houses. This

24:06

was reminiscent of similar graffiti found

24:08

at the 100-year-old cabin burnt down

24:10

in November There

24:15

were also more home movies that he'd

24:17

made with Omar. One

24:20

showed Jason being filmed by Omar

24:22

from behind. He

24:24

had pulled his T-shirt up around the back

24:26

of his neck to make it look like

24:29

he had a hunchback and he curled his

24:31

hands to resemble claws. As

24:34

Jason turned around to face the camera,

24:36

he revealed that he was wearing a

24:38

vampire mask. He

24:41

had painted an upside-down cross on his

24:43

forehead and he snarled at the camera.

24:47

In a different clip, Jason wielded a

24:49

knife at a dummy which he addressed

24:51

as Father. After

24:54

asking how the dummy was, he said, I

24:57

hope you're doing real good. Then

25:00

he stabbed it in the chest and used

25:02

the knife to slice off its head. Dressed

25:06

as Dracula, he gave a theatrical performance

25:08

to the camera. Another

25:12

video showed Jason

25:16

and Omar playing

25:18

violent war-style

25:39

games in a rural area,

25:41

presumably the Emerald Lake Hills

25:43

neighbourhood. While

25:46

some investigators have said that the two had

25:48

no motive for the fires they lit, others

25:51

have speculated that they were upset by

25:54

the development of a region they clearly

25:56

enjoyed spending time in. Authorities

26:01

linked to Jason and Omar to the burning

26:03

of 11 buildings and 15 separate

26:06

grass fires. In

26:08

total, their actions had caused more than

26:11

$2 million in damage. Both

26:15

suspects were tried as minors due to

26:17

their respective ages at the time of

26:19

the fires. Omar

26:22

was sentenced to serve time in a

26:24

juvenile detention facility, while Jason

26:26

was sent to a mental health hospital

26:29

in the hopes he would receive help

26:31

and rehabilitation. Their

26:33

identities have never been released by authorities

26:36

or the media, and it is not

26:38

publicly known what became of them after

26:40

their sentencing. In

26:44

the years since the episode of

26:46

Unsolved Mysteries made the Stockton Arsonist

26:48

case infamous, it has continued to

26:51

generate discussion online, thanks mostly to

26:53

the unsettling footage of the fire.

26:57

According to online sleuths who allegedly

26:59

discovered Jason's true identity, he died

27:01

in January 2017 at the age

27:03

of 45. Jason

27:08

had been walking along a highway in San

27:11

Mateo County when he tripped and stumbled onto

27:13

the road. He

27:15

was struck by a passing car and pronounced

27:18

dead at the scene. Although

27:22

the young men's fires took place almost 90

27:25

miles away from Stockton in an

27:27

entirely different part of California, the

27:30

case has remained associated with the location

27:32

where the tape was discovered. It

27:36

remains unclear how Jason and Omar's tape

27:38

ended up in a place so far

27:41

away from their homes. you