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Suspect In Vail Arsons Kills Himself In Jail
By J.D. O'Connor
January 23, 2006
One of several suspects in the 1998 arson attacks that caused $12 million in damage to several mountaintop structures in Vail apparently killed himself in a Flagstaff, Arizona jail cell, authorities said.
William C. Rodgers, 40, used a clear plastic bag from the jail commissary to suffocate himself, according to Lt. Charles Wong of the Coconino County Sheriff's Office.
Rodgers, who faced possible life imprisonment for a string of arson attacks in the West between 1998 and 2001, was in federal custody, alone in his Flagstaff cell, when he was found dead at 6:30 a.m. Dec. 29, Wong said. Although he was not charged in connection with the arson that destroyed Vail's Two Elks Lodge and other buildings, Rodgers had been named as a suspect in that case.
An Oregon woman, Chelsea Gerlach, has also been named as a suspect in the Vail fires and is being held in Eugene, Ore. She was placed on suicide watch after Rodgers was found dead, authorities said.
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