A Utah man “obsessed” with the owner of a massage parlor burned down an office constructing, destroying her enterprise and greater than 20 others, authorities mentioned.
Alex Kentish Tuita, 37, was charged Wednesday with three counts of aggravated arson and two counts of stalking within the June 13 three-alarm blaze at Ashton Places of work, the Salt Lake Metropolis Tribune studies.
Tuita, a former consumer on the Salt Lake Metropolis massage parlor who was banned by its owner, had been stalking her by texting “inappropriate issues,” making a pretend Instagram profile of her and difficult her fiancé to a battle, in keeping with a possible trigger assertion.
Tuita admitted to creating the bogus profile as a result of he was “obsessed” with the girl, investigators mentioned, including that she was within the means of in search of a civil stalking injunction in opposition to him, charging paperwork present.
A second feminine massage parlor owner at Ashton Places of work had already secured a civil stalking injunction in opposition to Tuita in 2018. The order stays in impact via mid-December, the newspaper reported.
Tuita, of West Valley Metropolis, admitted to fireplace investigators he set the blaze utilizing a jar of gasoline and a lighter earlier than working again to his automotive “with out trying again,” in keeping with the possible trigger assertion.
“He was not involved about whether or not folks may very well be harm,” investigators wrote, including that Tuita admitted he “crossed boundaries” by contacting the primary massage parlor owner.
The fireplace, which additionally unfold to a close-by dwelling and duplex, precipitated greater than $2 million in damages, KSL-TV reported.
The three-story office constructing, which was empty on the time, was fully destroyed and there’s no estimate on the losses suffered by the roughly 25 companies there, the Salt Lake Metropolis Tribune reported.
Two households who had been residing on the duplex had been in a position to escape with out harm, in keeping with the newspaper.
Tuita stays held with out bail after prosecutors famous that he additionally threatened the 2 girls and their households, including that he was “motivated by revenge” when he began the dumped gasoline on the constructing.
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