"Turn In A Torch" Program (Reward program to encourage Pennsylvanians to help solve arsons in the state.
May 23, 1974
The family of Ellen Mae Betts Ryan was horribly killed in an early morning house fire. It happened in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The address was 142 East Street. The building was a row house with 3 units in it, and was owned by Wilbur and Helen Betts. Wilbur Betts was Ellen's brother. Ellen and five of her 6 children, Donnie; 12 years old, Jimmy and Freddy; (twins) 6 years old, Lynn Douglas and Laurie; (twins) 3 years old, lived in the 142 address of the row house where the fire is said to have started. All of them died in the fire with the exception of Laurie.
Laurie actually survived the fire but her injuries were so severe that she succumbed to them a few weeks after the fire happened. Ellen's oldest son, Herby Betts, was married about a month before the fire happened to Annie (Me). We lived in an apartment a few blocks away from his family. At the time of the fire, officials ruled it accidental. From the very beginning of this horror we put up a fight to have it investigated as a crime, but no one would listen. 20 years later the officials were knocking on our door telling us that the investigation was reopened.
It is a good thing they reopened the investigation, but hard to understand why they decided to bring it all up again when now, 7 years after reopening it, they will not even give us the time of day. All of the evidence was there for them to investigate at the time of the fire. All of the people were there to question at the time of the fire, physical evidence, and obvious reason to investigate it as an arson/murder case was there. Our big questions today are many. But to narrow them down, here are just a few:
The Williamsport Police were called to that area twice that night. The second time for loud music. (She was having a birthday party for her male companion) His name was Robert Carson, he also perished in the fire. Why wasn't this a signal for the officials to say hey we got a problem, especially when Williamsport, Pennsylvania was being plagued with arson fires at the time, and for sometime after the fire that killed Herby's family.
We also have knowledge of Robert Carson being at the Williamsport Hospital's emergency room the night before the fire, but he left without being treated. Only to wind up dying in the same fire that killed Herby's family the next night. Why was Carson needing medical attention the night before the fire? Was the suspect(s) already angry for some reason the night before the fire? We aren't even sure what Carson's injuries were, but I don't think it's a coincidence that this man who was not from the immediate area would show up at a hospital emergency room shortly before being killed in an "accidental" fire. Why did he leave untreated? Even that remains a mystery.
We learned since the reopening of the investigation that the two officers on duty in the neighborhood that night were: Carl A. Ardabell and Robert J. Kibler. Both Officers have since then resigned from the Williamsport, PA Police Department...... (UPDATE: On October 31 and November 3, 1989...Andre Douglas (a Camp Hill prison inmate) claims he was beaten after a prison riot by Carl Ardabell and 3 other prison guards at the State Correctional Institution at Camp Hill, Pennsylvania . Click here to view the court transcripts of "Douglas vs. Ardabell" (and 3 other prison guards).) After doing a little research about Camp Hill prison I found some interesting websites: Camp Hill also known as the Infamous Pennsylvania's Camp Hell. A "camp" is a prison. In Pennsylvania, the term is used because the prisoners are so similar to the concentration camps of the Second World War. The following is noted on their website: "The "camp*" includes a very large and notoriously violent hole. The hole guards (with approval of their administrators) habitually and routinely beat and even cripple prisoners. More websites I found was: Timid Camp Hill Guards So Frightened They Sue and My Alarming Tour Of Camp Hill Prison
In addition, according to this website there is a so-called "Special Management Unit" ("SMU") in the prison. It is a kind of de-humanizing dungeon of institutionalized torture and torment. Ordinary men are turned into deadly danger, snarling menaces. The sole purpose of the SMU is to make men into monsters. Often, unpopular prisoners are sent there to be killed or maimed.
We urge Amnesty International (3601 Locust Walk, Philadelphia, PA 19104, 215-387-9331) to investigate Camp Hell to expose some of its worst abuses. A civilized country should not tolerate places like Camp Hell.
We now have knowledge of a second report submitted at that time, ruling the fire undetermined. Why was that kicked out and left hidden to us all these years?
The report that was accepted (THEORIZED), said that the fire started on the back porch with hot cigarette butts being mixed in with debris and beer cans that smoldered for some time, was the cause of the fire. (Please keep in mind that the Williamsport Pa. Police were called to that house at 1:58 am... just one hour and 12 minutes before the explosion that awakened the neighbor.
The above leaves me only to ask, why didn't they smell the smoldering cigarette butts on the back porch? Why did they just walk away and leave her alone to disperse the birthday party? And what do the fire officials consider smoldering for "some time"?
Why was the report only a few VERY SHORT paragraphs long for such a devastating fire? Please keep in mind that nearly an entire city block was destroyed that night, a Loyalsock fireman was injured, 17 people were left homeless, two adults and 4 children died, with a fifth child victim living long enough to suffer the pain of her charred little body only to succumb to her injuries just a few short weeks. She had 2nd and 3rd degree burns over 50% of her body, and there was an 87 year old woman who suffered from smoke inhalation.
It is also important to note that no autopsies were performed on the victims. Apparently the County Coroner just looked at the bodies and said they died from massive burns in a house fire. Also he stated on the death certificates that time of injury was 3 AM and time of death was 3:10 AM. How does he know all this information without even doing an autopsy? We believe (from details that we cannot disclose right now) that at least a few of these victims had possibly died BEFORE the fire started, but they didn't even CHECK to see how they REALLY died. I think if they had done the proper autopsies on this family back then that we would not be still going through this today.
What about the explosion that the neighbor heard that woke her from her sleep?? Looking out her window she could see the intense flames and that prompted her to call the fire in at 3:10 am. The neighbor reported that the flames seemed to move very fast throughout the house. Some of the other arson fires started in the same fashion as this fire did and an accelerant was used in those fires. A cigarette and coleman fuel was used in at least one (maybe more) of the arson cases in the area at the time. A lot of them even started in the back of the building and was almost identical to this fire. Why is it so hard to believe that this fire was ALSO arson? The Chief was even quoted in the newspaper that it was difficult to determine where/how the fire started because of all the damage. How did they come up with an accidental ruling on a fire that matched other arson related fires in the same area?
Shortly after the bodies were removed from the house, certain members of the family were allowed to go in and try to salvage anything they could of Herby's mom's belongings. Please note that while all of this was going on Herby was at Geisinger Hospital with his little sister. Watching her fight for her life and was unable to be back at the house when all this was happening. Also the house was left alone for anyone to go in and do whatever they wanted until the officials came back the next day to do a SO CALLED OFFICIAL INVESTIGATION as to what caused the fire.
Someone retrieved Herby's mom's pocket book from the hutch in the living room and Herby had to sign to get it from the Williamsport Police. When we looked in the pocket book, we realized that a lot of money was missing and she kept her diamond and wedding rings in there because she was separated from her husband Charles Ryan for several years before the fire happened. The rings were also missing. (Click here to view close-up picture of the purse in the hutch.) Why did all these things go missing? WHEN did they go missing? At an accidental fire you would think that things would not have obviously been stolen from the home. Were some or all of these things stolen BEFORE the fire? Is this part of the reason why the fire was set to begin with? There is so many details, motives, and many other factors leading to this fight for justice for this family. This was NO accidental fire. This was a cold blooded crime, it was arson, it was murder, there was robbery....there are clear motives, the person(s) responsible have bragged about doing it, they had reason and opportunity to do it, and they are getting away with it as we speak. How LONG is the people of Williamsport, Pennsylvania going to let this murderer walk the streets?? How long are they going to overlook this? This will not go away. This will not bring this family back. But anyone that can kill this many family members that were supposedly close to them can surely get angry at a stranger and do even worse things to them.
I could go on forever with all the questions and comments from other people outside of Herb's and my nightmare but for now I'll just tell you about the people that were killed in the fire. I'll start with Herb's mom. She was a wonderful happy person. She had a heart of gold. I often think of how our lives would be if she were here today. She did the best she could raising all those kids as a single mom in an era when single motherhood was not accepted like it is today. She didn't get much help. How I long to have a good laugh or even an argument with my mother in law.
Imagine the children. The true innocent victims in all of this. They never had a chance to grow up and be happy. I like to wonder how it would be with all of them married and kids of their own. Donny was only 12 at the time of the fire. He had an attention disorder. Donny was picked on a lot by other kids in the neighborhood because of that. Donny was very insecure around other people he felt most safe and happy with his mom, brothers and sister. It took awhile for Donny to come around with me, but he was starting to. He was very protective of his little brothers and sister just like his big brother Herb. He looked up to Herby for guidance and protection. Herb was the oldest he was 17 years old at the time of the fire and married to me.
Then there is Jimmy and Freddy the first set of twins. They were 6 years old at the time of the fire. They went to Washington Elementary School in Williamsport. Jimmy was the dominant of the two. He looked like a mini football player or some that see his picture says he looks like a little "Bruiser". Jimmy was the leader and Freddy was the follower. Freddy was the quiet shy type and had these big beautiful puppy dog shy eyes. He'd always let Jimmy get into stuff and see if his mom was gonna yell at him and if she didn't well ok, he'd join in the fun.
Lynny and Laurie were the babies. Just three years old. Lynny was the shy flirty type, and Laurie was just plain mommy's girl. Always hanging onto the back of her mom's leg when people came around. Lynny was the same but I could coax him out and he'd flirt with me till I won him over. He is probably the only one of the kids that I knew I could just walk in and play with.
You could always count on a bunch of giggles when you walked into that house. If you were down you wouldnˇ¦t be for long. There was never a dull moment. The kids would always run around the house and peak out at ya with this big grin as if to say, "See me? Now you don't!" Then giggle ,giggle, giggle. My God what I would give for one more visit to hear all of them laugh and watch them play.
They are the true victims here. They were horribly burnt to death. Their little bodies in pieces when they were retrieved from their home. Their safe place. I am sure all of this is hard for many to hear but it is important to let everyone who reads this know what this family suffered. We go over that night, time and time and time again. You never get over it. It may ease up but it comes back. All of it.
Her neighbor knocking on our door in the middle of the night with her housecoat on waking us up yelling, "Herby! Herby! Your Mom's house is on fire and everyone is trapped inside!" At first it didnˇ¦t register, but when it did we were running down there. When we got to the corner of Basin and Third Streets we paused. We could see just how serious it was. The flames were shooting so high in the sky that it was just chilling to see. When we got to her Street we were stopped by Herby's Aunt . She didn't want him to go any closer. Herby made me stand on his friend's porch while he inched closer through the crowd. Everyone was trying to get our attention at once.
It felt as though we were stuck in time with a million muffled voices saying a hundred things at once. It wasn't long until we learned that his sister was rescued from the burning house and was on her way to the hospital. Herby's Aunt's friend took us out to where she was. The next thing we knew, Herb was on his way to a children's burn center in the ambulance with his sister. They had to stop off at Geisinger because she was getting worse. They wouldn't let me go in the ambulance with Herb and his little sister so I went to my mom and dad's house to await any news. My dad was over at the fire scene and my mom was in the kitchen. I really didn't think about it till now but I didn't even realize I hadn't contacted my mom and dad about the fire. They were up and waiting for us to call. My dad was over there to see if he could find us. Herb knew I would be at my mom's and that he was to call me there if need be. He called to see if there was any news on the rest of his family but at that time there wasn't. We only talked for a moment because we didn't want to tie up the phone. I told him that my dad was over at the fire scene and he would call if there was any other news.
It wasn't long after that my dad called. He told me that Herb's mom and the kids were found inside the house and they were all dead. He said that the firefighters were getting ready to bring the bodies out of the house. I told dad that I had to call Herby at the hospital and let him know. I prayed for the strength to do what I knew was gonna rip him apart. He was alone with his little sister in a strange place just waiting and agonizing. The only way I could tell him was that they are all in Heaven with God. He broke down. He said that the nurses came to him right away with help. Later that morning Herb's Aunt brought Herby home. His little sister was stabilized for the moment and he needed to be home. We just held onto each other. It was really weird. We didn't talk much.
I guess his mom's brothers and sisters went out to identify the bodies. We didn't find that out till later. Actually, most of his mom's family was treating Herby as though he didn't even exist. When we went to make the funeral arrangements they were all talking about cremating the remains. Of course for financial reasons. That's when I spoke up because Herb was getting upset. I said to the funeral director, that is not what Herb wants. The funeral director looked at me and said "Who is Herb?" I pointed to him sitting next to me and said "Herb is Ellen's son and he does not want them cremated." He didn't want them cremated for all the obvious reasons, look at what we are going through today. The funeral director took on a whole new attitude. Then when the family realized that Herb had control they got upset and knowing that we did not have the money to take care of this all by ourselves they started complaining about who was gonna pay for the way Herb wanted his family buried.
This all ties into today and the many things we are finding out on our own. Things like the burial, heck even the gravesite where they are all buried in one place was donated by the cemetery. And we found out recently that the family did not pay to bury his little sister when she died, The American Red Cross did. As soon as I found that out I emailed them right away to thank them. Of course Herb and I didn't waste any time figuring out how to get them a headstone. We did that with the help of his cousin Rick.
It's very frustrating to us with all of the years that have gone by with this. Many people have offered to help, but dropped us like a hot potato when they found out how political the case has become. The Mayor of our city didn't even know that his so called "Arson Task Force" had made this a priority. Heck, it was on the front page of our local newspaper. In fact, it was on the front page of our local newspaper twice since the investigation reopened, and on two different local TV news channels. What bothers me most, is every time we get it out to the public something happens to move the case along. But trying to convince the local media that it is newsworthy is another thing. It seems as though someone or something is keeping them from helping us. I know that our local District Attorney is overloaded with unsolved homicide cases, he won't even speak to us. He obviously just doesn't care. In fact, in our town there has been a saying for as long as I can remember..."If ya' wanna get away with murder, do it in Williamsport, Pennsylvania."
Currently the Pennsylvania State Police at York is investigating the arson fire that happened at the Shrewsbury Commons Shopping Center in Shrewsbury Township in York County, PA. The arson fire happened around 1:00-1:25 a.m. on October 31, 2000. There was at least $10,000.00 worth of damage done. The fire was started at the rear of the mall. There is a $2,000.00 reward for the capture of the arsonist in this case. Please contact the Pennsylvania State Police or the PA Crimestoppers if you have any information on this arson fire. Another arson fire in Pennsylvania is being investigated at this time also. The Ellwood City Police Department and the Pennsylvania State Police Fire Marshall continue their investigation into a fire that occurred in the Borough of Ellwood City on May 18, 2000. Investigators stated at approximately 11:43 P.M., a fire was reported at Mr. B’s Lawn Care where neighbors had reported hearing a loud noise just prior to reporting it. Fire was breaking through the roof and within minutes of the fire-fighters arrival, the roof collapsed. Several other businesses were leasing space in the building complex; damage estimates were placed at approximately $500,000.00. Another PA arson was reported in January of 2000. The Pennsylvania State Police at Honesdale, continue their investigation into the Arson fires that occurred in Wayne County during the month of January 2000. The Arsons occurred within a one-mile square radius of each other and two-tenths of a mile apart, on Sawmill Road, Salem Township in Wayne County Pennsylvania. The first fire occurred on January 1st, at Shaffers Saw Mill. Investigators have determined that damages to the business were in excess of $750,000.00. The second Arson occurred later that month on January 27th at Klauss Wood Working. Investigators stated that due to the extreme heat of the fire, the electrical material was completely melted away. Damages resulting from this fire also exceeded $750,000.00.
Shortly after our investigation reopened, there was a murder of a young lady and her little daughter. She and her daughter was brutally murdered in their home on Center Street. Then there was the little girl in Muncy. Also the Illes case, where the woman was shot from outside her home while she was standing in the kitchen. On January 17, 1999 the body of Miriam Illes (age 47) was discovered in her kitchen. She was shot once in the back. An autopsy put her death around approximately 10:15-10:30 pm on January 15. A homemade silencer was also found in the back yard. I am sure there are more perhaps I will research the subject and update this later. Herb and I was told by a former employee at the Lycoming County District Attorneys Office that The DA will not even take the case unless it is a guaranteed conviction. All these people are waiting for justice for their loved ones. What more do they need? Why does it take so long? From what I have experienced with this and watching the ever so many News Shows on this subject, I gather that many people have been wrongfully accused and convicted and sent to jail to pay for a crime they did not commit. Whose fault is that? It is the justice system in itself. It just seems as though everyone has Civil Rights unless you are the one that is six feet under.
In Ellen's case her entire family including her is six feet under with the exception of her oldest son Herby. I can only thank God for that because she has someone to at least try and fight for her and her children. We know that the rest of her family wonˇ¦t. It sickens me to know that our justice system protects the accused above and beyond the call of duty. In our case, our suspect admitted to someone that he killed people in a house fire back in 1974. He was actually bragging about it to this person. Someone overheard the conversation and called the Pennsylvania State Police Fire Marshall in Lycoming County and told him everything they heard. Or at least that was the line the Fire Marshall told us when he first approached us about the investigation being reopened. I feel it only fair to the people living in our suspect's area to advise you that he resides in the Altoona, Pennsylvania area. This is not the only fire he set. He admitted to setting several fires in the Williamsport, PA area around that time.
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The Williamsport Police were called to that area twice that night. The second time for loud music. (She was having a birthday party for her male companion) His name was Robert Carson, he also perished in the fire. Why wasn't this a signal for the officials to say hey we got a problem, especially when Williamsport, Pennsylvania was being plagued with arson fires at the time, and for sometime after the fire that killed Herby's family.
