Submitted by Fox First at Ten on October 12th
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - A former volunteer firefighter in Connecticut pleaded guilty Thursday to setting a fatal 1986 fire, drawing a sentence of eight years and eight months in prison.
Peter Waraksa pleaded guilty Thursday to two counts of negligent homicide, arson and burglary. Ten years of parole will follow the prison sentence.
Waraksa, 50, was arrested in July 2010 - more than 23 years after the crimes - in connection with the deaths of Orie and Assunta Weeks. Their bodies were found after a fire at their East Windsor home on Oct. 7, 1986.
Waraksa was a member of the Warehouse Point Volunteer Fire Department at the time of the fire.
He also led East Windsor's emergency management response team and at the time of his arrest was serving a five-year prison term for sexually assaulting five boys.
Court records released in 2010 said Waraksa told police he set dozens of fires during his time as an East Windsor volunteer firefighter. His colleagues were suspicious of him and nicknamed him "Pyro Pete."
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