Fire destroyed gay man's house
Newton, NC -- Melvin Whistlehunt told the local paper everyone who knows him is aware he's gay, but few people have outwardly criticized him for it.
"I don't know of anybody who would go this far," he said, as he looked over the charred remains of his home on Buffalo Shoals Road south of Newton which is about 40 miles northwest of Charlotte. His house was engulfed by an intense fire and destroyed early Friday morning while Whistlehunt was at work.
It became clear that the fire was set intentionally as firefighters began hosing down the house, Newton Observer-News-Enterprise reports. What they found launched an immediate hate crime investigation.
Despite the intense flames, firefighters spotted graffiti spray painted across the back of the brick home. The white spray paint spelled out a derogatory message referring to sexual orientation and race.
Whistlehunt's mother lives next door and called him at 2:30 am to tell him his house was engulfed in flames. She told the local fire chief that the graffiti hadn't been on the house before the fire started.
Jason Drum, chief of the Bandys Crossroads Volunteer Fire Department, called in the Catawba County Fire Marshal's Office when he found the graffiti. He said he felt that it was important to get them started on their investigation right away.
The State Bureau of Investigation arson unit and the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office are also involved in the investigation.
"It is considered a hate crime," Karyn Yaussy, Catawba County emergency management coordinator, told the Observer-News-Enterprise.
Catawba County Assistant Attorney Chris Cordes explained that North Carolina does not have a statute that directly relates to hate crimes, but he said an arson fire that is a hate crime escalates the felony charges.
"It definitely makes it more serious," he said.
For Whistlehunt, who bought the one-story house last year, the destruction of his home is devastating.
"I'm really upset. Everything I had was in that house," Whistlehunt said. "There is nothing left at all."
All he had left was the Petro Express work uniform he was wearing.
"I had a bunch of non-replaceable things," he said.
The most valuable things to Whistlehunt were things his father left him when he died two years ago.
The fire didn’t affect him alone. His mother’s water was connected through Whistlehunt’s house.
"They can't even live there without water," he said of his family next door.
SBI Investigator Mark Bivens used an arson dog to search for evidence of accelerants, but Yaussy would not comment on whether any was found. However, she said there were multiple indicators aside from the graffiti that the fire was set intentionally.
Investigators couldn’t determine where the fire originated due to the extent of damage, Yaussy said.
Roy Brown with the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office said there are people of interest, but no suspects at this time.
It took 28 firefighters and seven trucks to get the fire out.
"I've been in the fire service 10 years and I've never seen anything like this," Drum said.
"The interior is absolutely gutted," he said. "It basically just destroyed the inside of the house."
The Bandys Crossroads Fire Department was alerted to the fire at 2:21 am after a neighbor noticed a glow in the distance as he was getting ready to leave for work.
Fire was already coming out of the roof when Drum arrived as the first person at the scene. Firefighters from the Catawba Volunteer Fire Department and Sherrills Ford/Terrell Fire and Rescue were also dispatched.
"We battled that thing for over an hour before we were able to get it under control," Drum said. "The fire was so big it was just hard to get a handle on."
RELATED INFORMATION
Mel's MySpace Page
Source: Hatred Fuels Fire | Newton Observer News Enterprise
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