A D.C. man is facing charges after allegedly starting a deadly town house fire that left three people dead, including a woman he’d previously been in a relationship with, D.C. police said Monday.
Police arrested Robert Simpson, 56, of Southeast and charged him with three counts of murder and arson in relation to Sunday morning’s fire, according to D.C. officials.
“It is clearly a case of domestic violence, where three people lost their lives over a senseless interpersonal conflict,” said D.C. Police Chief Pamela Smith.
Simpson had previously been involved in a romantic relationship with a 34-year-old Jessica Cunningham, who was killed in the fire, according to Capt. Jeffrey Wade, who heads the police department’s homicide branch.
He’s believed to be the only person involved in the homicides, Smith said.
The fatal fire broke out at a two-story town house in the 3400 block of 23rd Street Southeast at around 5:30 a.m., according to D.C. Fire and EMS.
A 64-year-old man and Cunningham woman were found dead. A third person, an 85-year-old woman, was alive when firefighters found her but later died at the hospital on Monday, police said.
Police identified the man and the other woman as Robert McKinnon and Margaret McKinnon.
At one point in time, investigators believe the three victims and Simpson lived in the town house together.
Police said there was no familial relationship between Cunningham and Margaret and Robert McKinnon.
The night before the fatal fire — repeat calls to authorities
Officers and fire officials had been at the town house the night before the fire.
D.C. police were called about a report of destruction of property at around 7 p.m. on Saturday night. They found a broken window, but the suspect wasn’t there, police said.
About two hours later, D.C. Fire and EMS arrived at the home over flames at the back of the house.
When firefighters got there, they found a fire had been set in a trash can and on a rolled up shade on the window. The flames had extinguished by the time officials arrived and fire investigators were notified, according to D.C. Fire Chief John Donnelly.
“The investigation revealed that the fire appeared to be intentionally set, and it was discovered that Robert Simpson was the person who had lit this fire,” said Wade.
Just after 3:30 a.m. on Sunday, Cunningham called 911 and told police Simpson had assaulted her the previous day. Wade said she did not appear to be injured physically.
Police said officers remained in the area for more than an hour to look for Simpson.
Then the reports of the town house fire came into officials around 5:30 a.m.
“Based on the investigation at this point, we do believe an accelerant of some type to be involved — that is under investigation,” Wade said.
Donnelly said firefighters responded within three minutes of the department being dispatched. When they arrived, the first floor was on fire with flames showing from two windows and the front door.
“They immediately went through the front door with their hose lines to put the fire out, while another crew accessed the second floor rear window, located a victim inside and brought them out over the ladder,” said Donnelly.
Based on the prior events, police again placed a lookout on Simpson. With an hour of the report of the fatal fire, he was arrested in relation to Saturday night’s fire and he’s now been charged with three counts of murder.
Wade said there had been past calls for service to the town house, as well as other locations.
When asked why police didn’t leave a unit at the town house after the repeated calls over the weekend, Wade said, “We had officers in the area. We just had to continue to answer radio calls.”
The police chief emphasized that officers had remained in the area after getting those calls.
“We just wouldn’t just sit officers at a particular location for an extended period of time,” Smith said.
Firefighters return to scene
Fire officials originally said the woman who was rescued had a chance of surviving because her door was shut. But Margaret McKinnon died on Monday morning.
Firefighters returned to the scene of the fire Monday to talk with neighbors about fire safety and check smoke alarms.
“I think it’s been since the about 2010 that we had a triple fatal fire in the city,” Donnelly said. “These are rare occurrences, and it’s something we’re going to continue to work on in making people’s homes safe,
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