Affidavit: Man admitted setting fatal Attica fire

ATTICA, Ind. (AP) - A confession that a suspected arsonist allegedly made to a fellow inmate at the Warren County Jail has led to murder charges being filed against the man and his cousin, court documents reveal.

WLFI-TV and The Journal and Courier report that Raymond L.S. Brown, 20, and David L. Purcell, 42, each were charged Friday with two counts of murder and single counts of arson and burglary in Fountain Circuit Court. It wasn't clear from court documents why the men face two counts of murder.

The two are accused of intentionally starting a fire in Attica that killed 65-year-old Ronnie Shoaf on May 8. Shoaf, who died from asphyxiation due to smoke inhalation, lived on the first floor of a two-story apartment building that was gutted in the blaze.

The two men knew Shoaf was in his apartment when the fire was set, investigators said.

Purcell admitted setting the fire to another inmate at the Warren County Jail, a probable cause affidavit revealed.

The case against Purcell and Brown began on May 25, when Warren County sheriff's deputies investigating a burglary found stolen tools in the garage of a home the two men shared in Independence, the affidavit said. Independence is about 70 miles northwest of Indianapolis.

While being questioned in that case, Brown provided information that implicated himself and Purcell in suspicious residential fires in Warren County, investigators said. The two men now face five counts of arson: three in Warren County and two in Fountain County.

Those five fires occurred in 2011 and 2012, Attica Fire Chief Ed O'Farrell said Friday.

WLFI reported a relative of Shoaf married a relative of Purcell, but investigators declined to comment on any connections the suspects and the victim shared.

In court documents from his initial arrest, Brown said Purcell set fires at property belonging to people who Purcell didn't like, and on another occasion because Purcell believed the man owed him money.

The two men are being held without bond, Brown in the Warren County Jail and Purcell in the Montgomery County Jail. It wasn't clear whether they have attorneys.