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NORFOLK
Norfolk Naval Station fire Capt. Joseph Kaising was pulling his team out of the burning townhouse on Pretty Lake Avenue when one of the firefighters shouted, "I found something!"
Thick black smoke forced Kaising to sink to his knees to see what had been discovered: It was a body.
"It was burned beyond recognition," Kaising said.
The fire had become a crime scene, and a dangerous one at that. From the first floor, Kaising could see the sun through a hole burned in the third-story roof. One of the firefighters put a foot through the still-burning floor.
The firefighters backed out, even as the blaze threatened to spread to adjoining townhouses.
Kaising's testimony came Wednesday during the jury trial of Tyrell Winslow, who is accused of murder, arson, defiling a body and other charges in the May 1, 2007, killing of Charles J. Liegel Jr.
Liegel, 28, was assigned to U.S. Joint Forces Command as part of a division that provided security to top officers here and abroad. His father, Charles J. Liegel Sr., is mayor of the town of Belvidere in northwest New Jersey.
Winslow, 18, was arrested in September 2008. Testimony at a previous hearing indicated Liegel was killed after he surprised a gang member who was burglarizing his home and that Winslow set the fire to destroy his fingerprints. The blaze spread to several homes and caused about $500,000 in damage.
Winslow was 16 at the time of the crimes, but a judge ruled he could be tried as an adult.
Winslow's lawyer, Cynthia Garris, notified the court earlier this year that she planned an alibi defense: that Winslow was baby-sitting his little sister with other members of his family at the time of the crimes.
The trial continues today.
Michelle Washington, (757) 446-2287, michelle.washington@pilotonline.com
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