‘I like killing best,’ final note said

Published on 27/12/2012 00:00

The ex-convict who lured two New York firefighters to their deaths by setting his house on fire wanted to make sure a note he left was legible, typing out his desire to “do what I like doing best, killing people”, police said.

Police said 62-year-old William Spengler took plenty of ammunition for three weapons, including a military-style assault rifle, as he set out to burn down his neighbourhood in the early hours of Christmas Eve. The rifle was the same kind used in this month’s school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.

“He was equipped to go to war, kill innocent people,” Webster police chief Gerald Pickering said. Spengler had served 17 years in prison for manslaughter in the 1980 killing of his grandmother with a hammer.

Officers also revealed that charred remains found in Spengler’s home were thought to be those of his 67-year-old sister, Cheryl.