NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — It’s been more than two years since a woman lost her life in a deadly arson. For the first time, we’re seeing the moments leading up to her death after police released Ring video of the suspects.
Two years after a fire destroyed a home on Somme Avenue and killed a woman inside, 10 On Your Side went back to Norfolk’s Fairmont Park neighborhood. Surveillance video recorded from 3502 Somme Avenue on Aug. 12, 2021 captured a man carrying what looks to be a gas can walking toward the home. As he walks back down the driveway, he talks with an accomplice.
“Why it happened, I have no idea,” said a nearby homeowner.
The neighbor who knew the couple whose house caught fire agreed to speak with us as long as we didn’t show his face or use his name.
“It’s kind of concerning I guess because you’d think somebody would’ve said something by now,” the man said.
An older couple lived at the home. The husband made it out safely, but his 69-year-old wife, Leslie Vaughan, did not survive.
The neighbor tells us he’s shocked that no one on the block saw the suspects that night, as they stood in front of the house for several minutes, and he’s never seen them in the neighborhood before.
“Usually everybody around here is pretty attentive to what’s going on,” the man said.
We spoke with Vaughan’s husband, who still lives in the neighborhood a few blocks away from the house that burned. He told us off camera he and his wife were in bed when they started to smell smoke. He ran down to the garage where the fire started and tried to put it out while his wife called 911. He thought she made it out because she was up and moving about the house but never did. He hopes someone comes forward with information on the arsonists.
Anyone who may recognize either of the individuals or has information about the investigation is asked to call the Norfolk Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UUP or submit a tip at p3tips.com.
