Infamous America - ARSONISTS Ep. 5 | Paul Keller: "Firestarter”

Episode Date: June 18, 2025

From an early age, Paul Kenneth Keller exhibits signs of disturbing behavior. From bullying his younger siblings to petty theft, Paul never behaves. Even more disturbing, he develops a life-long fascination with fire. In the summer of 1992, Paul’s life spirals and the only way he copes is by setting a string of arson fires throughout the Seattle area.  Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join   Apple users join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes, bingeable seasons and bonus episodes. Click the Black Barrel+ banner on Apple to get started with a 3-day free trial.   On YouTube, subscribe to INFAMOUS+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: hit “Join” on the Legends YouTube homepage.   For more details, please visit www.blackbarrelmedia.com. Our social media pages are: @blackbarrelmedia on Facebook and Instagram, and @bbarrelmedia on Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The fall of 1992 was already gearing up to be a memorable one. By the start of September, much of the nation's attention was fixated on the upcoming presidential election between the incumbent, President George H.W. Bush, and the Challenger, Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton. But unlike recent presidential races, a third candidate had managed to capture the imagination of millions, a businessman named Ross Perot. As the leaves began to change, the anxiety on all political sides was mounting as they vied for control of Washington, D.C. On the other side of the country, in Washington State, a more visceral anxiety gripped the greater Seattle area. An arsonist had held the region in fear for four weeks, and there seemed to be no end in sight.

From mid-August to mid-September, there were fires nearly every night. Firefighters responded to multiple locations. one after another with no idea where the arsonist might strike next. The arsonist had already caused millions of dollars worth of damage, and the only glimmer of luck was that no one had been hurt. Los Angeles had experienced a similar problem in the early 1980s, and its luck ran out when four people died in the fire at Oli's Home Center in October. Seattle's luck ran out eight years later in September 1992,

when a fire at the Four Freedom's retirement home turned deadly. The flames erupted on the third floor of the building sometime after 7.30 p.m. The retirement home was essentially an apartment building that was seven stories high, and the fire seemed to be centered on the furniture in the third floor lobby. The lobby furniture was made of polyurethane plastic, which caused extremely dense black smoke to fill the hallways. The intense heat, the thick black smoke, and the blaring fire alarm caused panic and confusion.

Staff and residents could barely see or breathe as they tried to flee the building. Firefighters rushed to the community and started battling the flames. Others ran inside to save the residents, many of whom had mobility issues because of their ages. Outside, paramedics set up a triage area to help people who were suffering from smoke, inhalation, and other conditions. Eight people went to the hospital. and three more did not survive the night. When the fire was out, investigators initially believed the cause was accidental. They believed a misplaced cigarette must have ignited something nearby and then quickly escalated into a full-on fire.

If it was arson, an attack on a retirement home didn't seem to fit the loose pattern of targets that had been established over the previous month. In less than a week, investigators would learn they were wrong on both accounts. 27-year-old Paul Keller's life had been in freefall for the past year, and he finally snapped in August 1992, one month before the fire at Four Freedom's retirement home. For seven months, he caused fear and anxiety in the Seattle region, and he eventually forced investigators to resort to desperate measures to identify the phantom serial arsonist who seemed to be everywhere and nowhere at the same time. From Black Barrel Media, this is Infamous America. I'm your host, Chris Wimmer, and this season we're telling the stories of two of the most notorious arsonists in American history, John Orr and Paul Keller. This is episode five, Paul Keller, Firestarter. As Seattle firefighters put out the flames at the Four Freedom's retirement home, and investigators declared it an accident, Paul Kenneth Keller was already setting his next blaze.

That same evening, September 22nd, 1992, he started two more fires. How many fires Keller had lit by that point is difficult to determine, but the string of blazes stemmed from a man who struggled to tame his inner demons. Paul Keller was from Everett, Washington, a suburb about 25 miles north of downtown Seattle. Everett was, and still is, a thriving industrial town. Before World War II, Everett was home to prosperous timber, and fishing industries. After the war, the town and the county suddenly became a hub for industrial manufacturing companies and distribution centers. In 1967, a year after Keller's birth, Boeing opened an

aircraft assembly facility in Everett. In the decades that followed, the town's economy boomed. Keller's parents, George and Margaret, had three children. Paul was the oldest, and his birth was traumatic. During labor, his umbilical cord detached, which led to massive amounts of blood loss and nearly killed him. It has been theorized that the trouble during birth eventually led to Paul being diagnosed with hyperactivity. If true, he was almost predetermined for a life of mayhem. As a boy, Paul Keller exhibited disturbing behavior, dark actions that went far beyond typical childhood mischief. He wasn't just hyperactive. His parents noticed that it appeared as if Keller enjoyed inflicting pain on others.

One winter's day, when Keller was five years old, he was playing in the snow with his younger sister Ruth. Keller pushed Ruth into the snow, and their mother, Margaret, caught her son tormenting his younger sister. When Margaret confronted Paul, he showed no signs of remorse or empathy. And that wasn't just an isolated incident. George Keller caught his son trying to drown Ruth in their backyard, swimming pool. Thankfully, George was able to stop Paul from killing his sister. On another occasion,

Paul placed a bucket of golf balls near a staircase. When his baby brother Ben stepped on the golf balls, he fell down the stairs. The injuries were so severe that Ben was placed in a cast from his ankles to his chest. Paul's parents would later admit they were always on edge when they knew Paul interacted with his siblings, and they knew they couldn't leave the kids alone for too long. but they also weren't passive about their son's alarming behavior. George and Margaret sought professional help and gave their son different therapies and medications. Paul underwent dozens of medical tests,

which confirmed his hyperactivity. But nothing the doctors did seemed to work. Worse, his behavior moved beyond tormenting his siblings. He became a skilled shoplifter and liar. When he got caught and was punished by his parents, Paul simply ignored them. He was completely impervious to discipline, and he was still very young. George and Margaret were so desperate to reform their son that they sent him to a program for troubled youths.

Unfortunately, it did little to improve his behavior. They continued to seek treatment, but then, seemingly out of nowhere, Paul's behavior changed. Around the age of seven, Paul stopped bullying his younger siblings. It isn't clear why, but instead, for unknown reasons, he became, interested in firefighters. His new interest suddenly consumed him, and it became all he could think about. At school, Paul was a loner who struggled to form friendships. But that didn't seem to matter to him.

He preferred to spend his days chasing fire trucks around town and watching firefighters put down major fires. He couldn't take his eyes off the flames. And when the fire was out, Paul approached the firefighters and asked them detailed questions about their work. As time went on, Paul began collecting firefighter paraphernalia, such as flashing lights and something close to a turnout coat like firefighters wore in action. When his father gave him a camera as a gift, Paul used it to take hundreds of photographs of neighborhood fires, fire trucks, firefighters, and burned out buildings. Fire was all he could think about.

To George and Margaret Keller, it seemed as if their hyperactive son had found a hobby that may be able to be. potentially lead to a thriving career. Maybe Paul's interests would help him become a firefighter to help him save people instead of tormenting them. But Paul's interests in fire and firefighters had nothing to do with the action of battling a blaze or the courage that was required to run into a burning building to save lives. His interests were the opposite. When Paul Keller developed an interest in firefighters, his parents were cautiously optimistic. They hoped that this would be no different than any other boy who wanted to grow up to become a fireman. Better yet, the hobby seemed to curtail some of his troubling behavior.

As long as Paul was focused on firefighters, he wasn't hurting anyone else. George and Margaret hoped their son was finally turning a corner. But sadly, they were wrong. When Paul was about nine years old, he decided he was going to start his own fire. The home next to his had been vacant for a while, so he casually walked over and set it ablaze. The exact details of the fire are scarce, but it was definitely discovered before it could erupt into something bigger.

The house didn't suffer any major damage and no one was hurt. But when Paul was confronted about it, he again showed little remorse. Paul apparently went on to set at least one more fire after the initial incident. Hoping to break through to their son, George and Margaret asked some firefighters to talk to Paul. They figured maybe the words of the professionals whom their son admired so much might make an impression. The firemen were happy to talk to nine-year-old Paul Keller. They explained to him about all

the dangers of a fire, including the loss of life and property. Fire was a serious thing. It was not something to play with. The words appeared to have worked to some degree, because there wasn't any evidence that he continued to light fires as a kid. But deep down, Paul was still very much obsessed with it. By the time he was a teenager, Paul Keller managed to convince his parents that he no longer needed counseling or medication. His parents had never given up on treatment, but Paul did seem to have outgrown his troubling behavior. So they nervously agreed, no more counseling or medication. Over the next few years, Paul remained hyperactive, but it looked as if his behavior did in fact change for the better. Unfortunately, he still struggled to make connections.

with other kids at school. Worse, his grades weren't very good. He was considered fairly bright, but he wasn't a great student. Paul's obsession with fire never diminished, but it looked like it might be shifting. Instead of lighting fires, he wanted to put them out. After Paul finished high school, he spent time volunteering at the Everett Fire Department,

where he gained some knowledge of firefighting techniques and equipment. Unfortunately, again, he was dismissed twice from the volunteer. program. The reasons have never been made public, but the dismissals essentially ended Paul's hope of becoming a firefighter. For the next few years, he bounced around various jobs, without losing his interest in all things related to fire. For a while, he was a bookkeeper at a security company, but he was fired when his desk suddenly and suspiciously caught fire. There didn't appear to be any direct accusations or charges of arson related to the desk, but it seems likely that Paul was responsible.

When he wasn't struggling to hold down a job, Paul followed in his family's footsteps of being an active member in the community. The family often volunteered at local retirement homes and spent time with the elderly residents. Paul also took an active role at church. Toward the end of the 1980s, when Paul was in his early 20s,

he started going to Grace Community Church. He joined the choir and gained a reputation as being happy go lucky. The church's pastor described Paul as, quote, always kind, conscientious about his work. Paul caught the eye of a fellow choir singer, and they hit it off immediately. In 1989, they got married,

and Paul's life seemed to have swung in a positive direction. He was 23 years old. He had a new wife, and he was active in the community and in the church. Sure, he wasn't a firefighter, and he struggled to keep a job, but it looked like he was on the right path, towards starting a family and maybe finding a solid career.

All that positive momentum lasted about two years. In 1991, the downward spiral started. There are a few details available about Paul Keller's marriage, but it appears as though the marital bliss didn't last long. Several aspects of his life seemed to be moving in the right direction, but he was still obsessed with fire and firefighting, and he still had trouble keeping a job. Keller continued to listen to his radio scanner in search of serious fire incidents.

When he found one, he rushed out to witness it. More often than not, the rushes for excitement occurred in the late evening hours, which obviously isn't conducive to having a stable home life. Many within Keller's family believed his obsession put a strain on his marriage. Maybe it did, and maybe there were other factors as well. Whatever the reasons, Paul Keller's wife filed for divorce. in 1991 after two years of marriage. The divorce deeply affected Keller, and in the aftermath, he sank into depression. He drank heavily and started using drugs. His financial situation

worsened as he couldn't hold down a job. In the depths of despair, he sought help from his family. George Keller, Paul's father, agreed to give his son a job at the family's advertising agency. By 1991, both of Paul's siblings, Ruth and Ben, worked for their father. The agency was successful, and it appeared once again as if Paul's life was moving into positive territory. George made his son an advertising salesman, and Paul, for his part, dove into the process with gusto. In the early days, Paul achieved the success he had longed for. He nailed sales meetings and developed good relationships with clients. By the start of 1992, the family was able to breathe a heavy sigh of relief.

Paul had turned a new corner. But Paul's positive trajectory didn't last, and before long, old patterns emerged. Exactly what triggered the return of his bad behavior isn't clear. But despite the success he briefly achieved, he was once more acting out. He became unpredictable, with a hair-triggered temper that could erupt at the slightest provocation. Co-workers learned to tread carefully around him because they never knew what might set off one of his explosive outbursts. Keller's propensity to avoid fault for any wrongdoing worsened, nor was he open to any form of criticism, even if it was intended to be constructive.

Generally, whoever made the comment met with rage. The two people who were on the receiving end of most of Keller's violent outbursts were his siblings, Ruth and Ben. Keller got into daily conflicts with his brother and sister, which created a particularly tense work environment. And the battles weren't just shouting matches. One morning, Margaret, Paul's mother, arrived at the office to find Paul's hands wrapped around Ruth's throat. Allegedly they had had some sort of trivial workplace disagreement. Margaret went to her husband and demanded that he fired their son. But George Keller couldn't bring himself to do it. It's possible that George viewed the agency as Paul's last chance. Even as hostile and as scary as the environment could be,

it might be better than casting Paul out. If Paul went back to his old routine of bouncing from job to job and abusing drugs and alcohol, who knew what would happen? Sadly, the Keller family found out what would happen. Throughout early 1992, Paul's self-destructive behavior grew worse. His drinking increased and he continued using drugs. drugs. He developed an addiction to pornography and frequented illicit massage parlors. His personal finances dwindled. Despite his initial success as a salesman, Paul barely had a dollar to his name,

and in July 1992, he had to file for bankruptcy. The financial failure only made Paul more angry and more volatile, especially around the office. Finally, his father had seen enough. This was rock bottom, and it was time for his son to pull himself out of it. George gave Paul an ultimatum, fix the anger issues, or look for a new job. Paul Keller heard his father's ultimatum loud and clear, but instead of seeking therapy or other forms of professional help, Paul found a different outlet to channel his rage and stress,

one that terrorized the entire Seattle region. On the evening of August 6, 1992, One week after John Orr received his first conviction for arson in federal court, Paul Keller drove to the town of Linwood, about 20 miles south of Everett. He found a house that was under construction and approached it. He took out a cigarette lighter and lit the exposed wood on fire. Then he hopped back into his car and drove off. Behind him, flames torched the wood and building materials.

That same evening, he found two more houses that were under construction in Linwood, and set them on fire. Three nights later, he lit three more fires. One of them was similar to the first batch, an unoccupied house. The other two were different. Maybe he was lashing out at his family's devout Lutheran upbringing when he set fires at two churches, Trinity Lutheran Church and the Linwood Alliance Church.

The next night, he lit more fires. By August 12th, Paul Keller had set roughly 11 fires in less than a week. Most of his targets were empty houses or vacant churches, but by the end, he was targeting office buildings as well. Some of the fires were relatively small and managed to burn themselves out before firefighters were alerted. Others did considerable damage. By mid-August, the string of fires had caused an estimated $1.8 million in damage. As Keller stayed in the shadows, preparing his next targets, local law enforcement began investigating. Almost immediately, authorities suspected arson. The rate at which the fires had started made it obvious that someone was purposefully setting them.

And considering that many of them were set in churches, investigators wondered if the arsonist had some kind of vendetta against religious groups. But it was just one of many theories because nothing in the early investigation revealed any real motive. Investigators brought in specially trained dogs to search the rubble of the buildings that suffered the work. fires. The dogs sniffed for residue from explosives or other things that might have been used to set the fires. Investigators combed through the scenes to find any evidence that might identify a potential suspect. Despite their efforts, they didn't find anything that pointed to the arsonist. And as all arson investigators knew, the nature of the crime worked against them.

If the arsonist succeeded in starting a huge fire, the flames usually consumed any possible evidence. Whatever might be left could be rendered unusable or destroyed by the hundreds of gallons of water that might be needed to put out the fire. Again, by its nature, an arson fire wasn't like a murder or a violent robbery, where all kinds of different clues could be left behind. For an arsonist like Paul Keller, there was, quite literally, nothing left behind. Keller wasn't like John or. Keller didn't manufacture a signature fire starter device and planted in public spaces. Keller's method was deceptively simple. He walked up to his target and searched for something that was flammable, wood, rubber hoses, trash, cardboard boxes, anything he could ignite quickly.

He flicked open a cigarette lighter, held the flame to the flammable object, and then walked away when the fire started. No trace of him was left behind. And unlike many firebugs, Paul Keller did not stand outside in the crowd of onlookers and watch the building burn. He walked away, and when the fire was done, it was as if he had never been there at all. For investigators and the general public, the mystery and lack of understanding put everyone on high alert. Authorities added extra patrols around construction sites and local churches. Construction workers maintained vigilant night watches, and neighborhoods organized their own watch groups.

While they did, Paul Keller grew bolder. He began targeting larger buildings and businesses, one of which was a shopping mall that suffered more than $8 million worth of damage. Using his emergency scanner, he listened in as first responders reacted to his fires. And the scanner allowed him to coordinate his targets. he could hit multiple places in one night because he knew which fire companies were responding

and where they were going. In the space of one month, from mid-August to mid-September 1992, Paul Keller set more than 24 fires. Thankfully, even as his attacks moved to more populated locations, no one had died. But investigators knew it was only a matter of time. On the evening of September 22nd, 1992,

Paul Keller hopped into his car and began driving around Everett and North Seattle. Eventually, his eyes landed on a seven-story retirement community called Four Freedoms Retirement Home in North Seattle. Around 350 people lived at Four Freedoms. The average age of the residence was 80 years old, and many had limited mobility. A little after 7.30 p.m., Keller entered the retirement complex and rode the elevator to the third floor. In the third floor lobby, Keller spotted a couch. When no one was looking, he shoved old newspapers and magazines between the cushions. He pulled out a cigarette lighter and ignited the pages.

As the flames caught, Keller escaped the building as quickly as he had entered. Behind him, the burning couch made from polyurethane plastic produced thick black smoke that started to fill the third floor lobby. The fire spread to other pieces of furniture in the lobby and, Quickly the smoke filled the hallways. Residents and care workers scrambled to exit the building, and three people were not able to make it. 93-year-old Bertha Nelson and 77-year-old Mary Doris succumbed to smoke inhalation, and 72-year-old Adeline Stockness suffered a fatal heart attack caused by the stress of escaping the building.

Eight people at the retirement community were rushed to a hospital for smoke inhalation, and 32 were treated on the scene by paramedics. Four freedoms suffered about a million dollars in property damage, but the headline was that Paul Keller was now a murderer. And his night wasn't done. He set two more fires after four freedoms, one at an office building and wanted a house, before he stopped his spree for the night.

Investigators didn't initially believe the Four Freedoms fire was arson. When they began to inspect the area, their conclusion was that the fire was unintentional. They believed that someone had accidentally left a cigarette or something like it inside one of the couch cushions, and that's what caused the blaze. Investigators also didn't consider four freedoms to have any connection to the other two fires that were started that night.

A retirement community didn't fit the loose pattern that had developed over the past month, but it would within a week. Six days later, on September 28th, Paul Keller started a fire at Anderson Retirement Home. Thankfully, no one was hurt or killed, but now there were two fires at retirement communities in less than a week. Investigators had to take note,

even if the information didn't point them in the direction of the arsonist. Going into October, Keller expanded his reach by lighting fires across three more counties in central Washington, and his boldness grew beyond the geographical spread. He started increasing the number of fires he lit per night. Partway through October, he started 12 fires in one night. Investigators and firefighters were baffled and on edge. Every night, they knew they would face another arson fire.

It wasn't a question of if, it was a question of how many. Their frustration mounted with each fire because there was so little evidence that could lead them to a suspect. None of the fires contained traces of accelerants or incendiary devices. There were no reliable witnesses as yet, and Paul Keller never stayed around to watch the fires. Investigators who may have scanned the crowds at the scenes of the fires wouldn't have seen the same guy lurking at multiple locations. Local authorities reached out to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, but even with federal resources, the investigation yielded nothing of substance.

As October 1992 came to a close, law enforcement officials had no obvious leads on more than 50 fires that had destroyed buildings and claimed three lives in a three-month span. The holiday season was getting close, and investigators decided they needed to try any tactic, no matter how bizarre. Next time on Infamous America, as Paul Keller's arson spree moves into November and December 1992, local authorities, authorities create a joint task force to find him. They take drastic measures, including hypnosis, to try to bring down the man they begin to call the Spectre. That's next week on the season finale of arsonists here on Infamous America. Members of our Black Barrow Plus program don't have to wait week to week for new episodes. They receive the entire season to binge all at once with no commercials, and they also receive exclusive bonus episodes. Sign up now through

the link in the show notes or on our website, blackbarrelmedia.com. Memberships are just $5 per month. This episode was researched and written by Ria Perot and Joe Gera. It was produced by Joe Gera. Original music by Rob Valier. I'm Chris Wimmer. Thanks for listening.