Woman Burned to Death by Ex-Boyfriend
A 73-year-old Brooklyn woman has was set alight and left to die by an ex-boyfriend whom she feared.
Delores Gillespie was by approached by her 47-year-old ex in her apartment elevator, who doused her with a flammable liquid before setting her on fire and fleeing.
Gillespie is said to have been a loving community activist who was scared the ex-boyfriend would harm her, according to her relative Dorina Thomas.
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"She was so scared of this guy. She was desperately scared of him," Thomas told the New York Daily News.
"She knew that something was going to happen to her in that building. She knew this and everyone around here knew this," Thomas added.
The 47-year-old suspect was dressed like a maintenance worker as he waited for Gillespie to return from the grocery store.
The horrific murder was caught on surveillance, and shows the suspect even dousing Gillespie one last time after she is already alight and screaming for help, before running away.
Although neighbors tried to help, it was too late and the victim died at the scene. Five others were also injured in the fire, and one witness described his shock when he saw the gruesome scene.
Known only as “John,” the source said he ran downstairs and heard Gillespie crying for help as well as “popping sounds” from the elevator shaft.
"The elevator sounded like it was boiling paint," John said, and of Gillespie's cries he said, "It was high-pitched yelling."
Gillespie is said to have grown up in Louisiana.
