Denver Bar Fire Update: 3 Arrested for Arson, Murder
Police have arrested three suspects in the case involving five bodies found after a local Bar & Grill burned down Wednesday.
It is believed that the four women and one man found dead at the scene were victims of murder that was being covered by fire.
Moreover, police believe that the motive for the murders and the fire was robbery.
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The suspects are Joseph Hill, 27, and his brother Lynell Hill, 24, as well as Dexter Lewis, 22. All three men were arrested in Denver. They will likely be charged with murder, arson, and aggravated robbery, according to ABC News.
Fero's Bar & Grill in southeast Denver erupted in flames Wednesday morning between 1:30 a.m. and 2 a.m. Inside, firefighters found the bodies of one man, 63-year-old bar owner Young Fero, and four women: Daria M. Pohl, 22; Kellene Fallon, 45; Ross Richter, 29, and Tereasa Beesley, 25.
All five individuals were killed by trauma, though police declined to comment further on their cause of death. Also, the medical examiner did not release the cause of death on Thursday.
Denver Police Commander Ron Saunier said during a televised briefing at the scene that the fire was likely set to cover the five murders.
"The business has obviously been set on fire, an arson, I'm guessing, to mask the homicide that occurred inside," said Saunier. "There is just trauma, enough information to believe that we had a homicide that occurred here. They didn't perish in the fire."
Police did not go into detail on the state of the bodies and declined comment on whether or not it appeared as though the bodies had been shot, reported Reuters.
Denver Fire Department spokesman Lt. Phil Champagne said that inside the bar was "a pretty gruesome scene," according to Reuters.
