Officials said Wednesday that a wildfire in Northern California that killed two people in 2020 was set on purpose to hide a murder.
According to the Solano County sheriff’s office and Vacaville police, the Markley Fire was started near a dam in Solano County, where the burned body of Priscilla Castro, 32, was discovered.
According to Sheriff Tom Ferrara, two more people, Douglas Mai, 82, and Leon “James” Bone, 64, were found dead in their homes as a result of the eruption.
Vacaville police arrested Victor Serriteno in September and charged him with murder in Castro’s death. According to the district attorney, prosecutors plan to file two more murder charges and arson charges.
Ferrara said, “Based on an extensive eight-month investigation, we believe Serriteno deliberately set the Markley Fire in an attempt to conceal his crime.”
According to Vacaville police, the Markley Fire started on Aug. 18, and Castro’s burned body was discovered a month later in a rural area near Lake Berryessa.
On Aug. 16, investigators believe Castro, of Vallejo, traveled to Vacaville to meet Serriteno. According to investigators, she was never seen or heard from again.
Judicial documents can be found online. Serriteno is represented by a public defender, although there is no indication of who the attorney is.
The Markley Fire gradually combined with a larger fire, the Hennessy Fire, and became part of the vast “LNU Lightning Complex.”
According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, also known as Cal Fire, the greater complex of fires was the culmination of two days of lightning strikes and is considered one of the largest wildfires in California history.
The LNU Complex burned over 363,000 acres in five counties, destroying nearly 1,500 buildings and killing six people.
Early in October, the LNU complex was fully contained. Lake, Napa, Sonoma, Yolo, and Solano counties were all affected.
According to a report released by Cal Fire, the 2020 fire season will be one of the worst in the country’s history.
The “2020 Fire Siege” in California destroyed more than 9,200 buildings and burned 4.2 million acres. It killed 31 people, including three firefighters.
