Woman burned down house because of attic noises

A Carlsbad, New Mexico, woman was arrested on Friday after a nearly six-month investigation into an arson fire at her home. Carlsbad police say Valerie Hernandez, 33, burned down her home on May 18. Hernandez moved into the home in March and told police she never liked living there because she believed someone was living in the attic, though a police investigation earlier in the year revealed no such thing. Hernandez said she felt like someone was constantly watching her and had bugged the house to listen to all of her conversations. She repeatedly asked Sgt. Blaine Rennie if the person in the attic had died during the fire.

Police and fire officials say Hernandez gave them several stories about how her house caught on fire. She first told an officer she had walked to a convenience store not far from where she lived, to buy a soft drink. On her way back, she heard a loud explosion and saw smoke coming from her house. Sgt. Adrian Rodriguez attempted to confirm her story at the store, but receipt records showed she had purchased a bottle of lighter fluid instead of a soda. Hernandez then admitted that she indeed purchased the lighter fluid, but she said it was for a barbeque. She was on her way to her friend's house for a cookout when she heard the explosion and ran home to find her bedroom on fire. But Hernandez's neighbours denied hearing any type of explosion.

Hernandez's neighbour, Cody Grady, said he did not know her well, but he remembers some strange activity across the street during the weeks leading up to the fire. "She (Hernandez) would knock on my door five or six times a day and then just walk back to her house." According to the police report, the fire originated on a mattress near the southwest wall of the home. Maxwell said there was no heat source located near the area of origin, and therefore the fire had been caused by an accelerant. Police looked outside Hernandez's bedroom window to find several documents and clothes lying on the ground which appeared to have been purposely saved from the fire.

During a second meeting with police, Hernandez again admitted to buying the bottle of lighter fluid, but this time she said she returned home after buying it, staying in her room because she was scared of the person living her attic. When she gained courage, she ran out of the house and dropped the lighter fluid by the front door. Hernandez denied setting fire to her house, and she suggested that perhaps the old Christmas lights and ceiling fan in her closet could have started the fire. Hernandez's mother, Elia Hernandez, said she purchased the residence along with her daughter but moved to Clovis to get away from her. Hernandez will appear before a judge on Thursday. And as for her house, police say it is a total loss.