News 12 @ 11 o'clock -- December 27, 2008

AIKEN COUNTY -- Jesse Williams says he remembers the night his neighbor's home went up in flames just like it was yesterday.

"I said the house is on fire and I hollered back to my girlfriend to call 911. I ran over I was thinking the old man was in there. I didn't think nothing about people setting it," said Jesse Williams.

But investigators say that's just what happened. They say George Woltz, Juniors' roommate Keith Alan Fitzgerald and two others set the home on fire last Saturday night to cover up a bigger crime, murder.

"I just don't see how they can get away with something like that..I don't know what they were thinking," said Jesse.

And right across the street from Woltz's home, there was an arson and burglary in September. A crime with a lot in common with what happened at Woltz's home. Jessie says he's surprised about the murder but not about the fire because he says Fitzgerald was a known arsonist.

"What went through my mind was why they didn't catch him when the apartment across the street got burned down in September. "That's what I thought. We got an arsonist staying across the street," said Jessie.

He's talking about Fitzgerald's history. The convicted arsonist served 16 years in a New York state prison for setting 2 fires; including one that burned down an Albany, New York department store in 1990.

Jesse wonders, could he have struck in Aiken more than once?

"I just wish the police would've found out something. They could've stopped what happened if they would've known about the fire and knew who committed that one," said Jesse.

Fitzgerald hasn't been officially charged in connection with the September fire, but Jesse says he'll sleep better at night now that the smoke has cleared and Fitzgerald has been caught.

"I feel a lot better now that they're locked up though. It makes me feel better," said Jesse.

All three men charged with Woltz's murder are still behind hind bars in Anderson, South Carolina. Investigators say they expect to have Fitzgerald back in Aiken next week.

Investigators say at the time the September case is only being looked at for a second time. If they decide to reopen it, they say Fitzgerald could be named as a suspect because the burglary and arson match what he did at Woltz's home