Woman burns alive in elevator

A woman burned to death in the elevator of her Brooklyn apartment building Saturday afternoon after a man ambushed her, sprayed her with liquid and set her afire with a Molotov cocktail, police said.

The unidentified man was waiting for the woman, who was in her 60s, when the elevator doors opened to her floor of the Crown Heights building. The man sprayed her with an accelerant and set her on fire, New York City police spokesman Paul Browne said.

“It was apparent he knew she was on the elevator,” he said.

The brutal attack lasted about a minute and was recorded by two video cameras, including one inside the small elevator.

The assailant began to enter the elevator and sprayed the woman as the doors opened to the fifth floor where she lived, Browne said.

The woman, who had grocery bags in her arms, turned about 180 degrees and then crouched in an attempted to protect herself, he said. But the man sprayed her directly in the face and continued to spray her “sort of methodically” over her head and parts of her body as the bags draped off her arms. She turned around and retreated to the back of the elevator.

At some point, Browne said, the suspect then pulled out a barbeque-style lighter, used it to ignite a Molotov cocktail and then waited for a few seconds — before using the flames to set her afire, causing the elevator to fill with smoke.

The man backed out as the woman fell to the floor of the elevator, Browne said, and seemed to pause before tossing the bottle inside the elevator onto the woman.

Browne would not comment on the motive in the killing, but said the suspect knew his victim.

Investigators believe the suspect fled down the stairs of the building, he said.

The suspect was dressed as an exterminator, The New York Times reported. He wore gloves; a protective mask was perched atop his head and he carried a container on his back.



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Investigators told the Times the suspect appeared burned on his face and hands so authorities were looking for him in local hospitals.

Neighbors reported a fire in the building, unaware that the woman, who police declined to identify, was burning to death in the elevator.

Neighbors identified the victim as Delores Gillespie, who was pronounced dead on the scene, the New York Daily News reported. There were no immediate reports of an arrest.

Five other people suffered minor injuries and were rushed to a local hospital, the Daily News said.

One neighbor told the Daily News that he heard loud screams before smoke started filling the hallways.

“It was high-pitched yelling,” said the 29-year-old neighbor, who identified himself as John. “It sounded like it was coming from the fifth floor.”

Gillespie lived on the building’s fifth-floor for years and appeared to be mentally ill and extremely paranoid, neighbors told the Daily News.

She complained that upstairs tenants stole from her. Her son, who neighbors said is also mentally ill, was staying with her, the Daily News reported.

Anyone with information in regards to this homicide is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS. The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers Website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or texting their tips to 274637(CRIMES) then enter TIP577.

© 2011 msnbc.com

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