Jury convicts man who set blaze that killed Vanderbilt native
To her surprise, Peggy Marcinek said she found little comfort in a jury returning a guilty verdict Friday against the man accused of killing her son. “I thought I’d feel better, but I don’t,” said Marcinek of Vanderbilt. “It was a sad ride home after the trial. There’s nothing to be happy about because I’ll never see my only son. I’m glad the trial is over, but the nightmare of losing my son will never be over.”
Her son, Joseph, 21, a 1997 graduate of Uniontown Area High School, died in an apartment fire in Pittsburgh’s Oakland section Sept. 29, 2000. According to police, Matthew Kaguyutan, 25, of Adams County set the fire in hopes of scaring his former girlfriend, Carissa Probst, who was living in the apartment building at the time of the fire.
Convicted by an Allegheny County jury of second-degree murder, arson, burglary, risking a catastrophe, criminal mischief and reckless endangerment, Kaguyutan will receive a mandatory life sentence.
But that sentence is little consolation to Marcinek.
“Sure, he’ll be in jail for the rest of his life, but his mother can still see her son and I can’t see my son. It’s so unfair,’ said Marcinek. “It goes to show you how someone can affect so many other people’s lives. Joe’s father says he didn’t just lose a son, he lost his best friend. And my daughter has had a very hard time dealing with it. We were a close family, and we’ll never get over it.”
Homicide detectives testified that Kaguyutan told them he used keys he had stolen from Probst to enter her apartment early that morning while she was sleeping and set fire to a sofa. Probst, her roommate and others in the building – with the exception of Marcinek – escaped.
Marcinek, an honor student at the University of Pittsburgh who lived on the top floor of the three-story building, died of smoke inhalation and carbon monoxide poisoning. Peggy Marcinek still can’t believe her son’s misfortune.
“He was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but you have to remember he was in his bed sleeping, so he really wasn’t in the wrong place. It wasn’t like he was out someplace where he shouldn’t have been,’ said Marcinek.
“He was really an innocent victim. He didn’t even know any of these people,’ Marcinek added. “It was all so senseless. Joey was such a good kid. He was there for everybody. He had so many friends and they all miss him. One of his friends called me Thursday night from California to see how things were going with the trial. That’s the type of friends he had. Everyone liked him.’
Taking the stand before jury deliberations began Thursday, Kaguyutan said police coerced him into signing the statement they said he made to them after grilling him for more than seven hours. The former city homicide detective who interviewed Kaguyutan, Richard McDonald, said he made no promises to Kaguyutan and the suspect was interviewed for only about three hours when he confessed.
To Marcinek, there was no doubt that Kaguyutan was the man responsible for her son’s death.
“We always believed he was guilty because of his confession,’ said Marcinek. “I was worried when the jury was taking so long, but I’m just glad they came back with the guilty verdict.
“I don’t know what I would have done if he would have been found innocent. I don’t know if I could have handled it.’
Marcinek and her family were in court all last week for the trial, and she said it was harder than she ever could have imagined.
“It was like reliving everything again,’ said Marcinek. “It was very difficult to handle, but thank God for our friends and family. It would have been a lot harder without them.’
Marcinek said she, her family and friends plan to be there for Kaguyutan’s formal sentencing Sept. 20.
“I know it’s going to be hard, but we’ll definitely be there for that,’ said Marcinek.