Nashua fire victim Scott Thomas, 66. Photo provided by his family.
NASHUA – An 80-year-old man committed suicide by intentionally starting a fire in his apartment Tuesday that spread to another apartment unintentionally killing a 66-year old man, authorities said Wednesday.
The autopsy results showed Scott Thomas, 66, was the victim of homicide and Gerald Gutekunst, 80, committed suicide by setting the 3 a.m. fire Tuesday at 19 Orange St. in Nashua, according to a news release issued by Attorney General John Formella.
“The autopsy of Gerald Gutekunst found that his cause of death was smoke inhalation, and that the manner of death was suicide. The autopsy of Scott Thomas found that his cause of death was smoke inhalation, and the manner of death was homicide. As used by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, the term homicide is defined as the killing of one person by another.
“Based upon the information known to investigators, it appears that shortly after 3:03 A.M. on July 21, Mr. Gutekunst locked the door to his own apartment and ignited a fire inside the apartment. He did not try to escape. Investigators have reviewed communication sent by Mr. Gutekunst at the time of the fire indicating his intent to commit self-harm, and fire patterns inside the apartment indicate the fire was set intentionally.
“The fire spread beyond Mr. Gutekunst’s apartment to the rest of the building, causing Scott Thomas to inhale the smoke from this fire, which caused his death. There is no indication at this time that Mr. Gutekunst specifically intended to harm Thomas by his act.
“Given these facts, the Attorney General has preliminarily concluded that Gerald Gutekunst intentionally committed an act of arson inside his apartment in an act of self-harm, and that this act recklessly caused the death of Scott Thomas under circumstances manifesting an extreme indifference to the value of human life,” the release said.
Because Gutekunst did not survive, criminal charges may not be brought for Gutekunst causing Scott Thomas’ death, the release said.
Gutekunst was previously charged in connection with allegations of arson and threats of violence in Hudson in 2019. Following that incident, he was the subject of public court proceedings that included competency evaluations. “The criminal charges stemming from that incident were ultimately dismissed after Mr. Gutekunst was found not competent to stand trial and not restorable to competency,” authorities said.
Fire Marshal Sean Toomey said this event highlights how arson is not a victimless crime, and that any intentionally set fire puts in motion a series of events that significantly jeopardizes the safety of both the public and our First Responders.
Nationwide, every year, intentionally set fires cause over 400 deaths, 1,300 injuries, and $1.3 billion dollars in direct property damage.
The news release reminded people in crisis they can call, text or chat with trained crisis counselors any time, any day, by calling the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 9-8-8, or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741.