Sorry if I'm repeating a previous thread, I did a quick search and came up with nothing---I was just watching Cold Case on A&E and they had an episode on the San Mateo Arsonist, the creepy Omar one! It was even creepier than UM!!!!

Apparently they got a lead on a suspect after his own home garage went up in flames. In the garage they found animal parts, sacrifical items, large saws and blades and headless dummies. Lots of home videos were found of other fires he set and of the suspect himself (and his friends) doing bizarre and evil things. One video, the suspect (they blurred his eyes) was calling a homemade dummy "father" and then repeatedly stabbed him and beheaded him. Several vids depicted the youth dressed as a vampire and praising satan and evil and stuff. Very troubled kid. Needless to say, it was very disturbing.

Creepy half hour. Didn't know if anyone else watched it. The cops said they allowed the 18year old to plead guilty to only the fire that was shown on UM, although they know he committed several others--they said they wanted to get him help and not so much punish him. Can't remember the time he got, but hopefully he's a much healthier member of society now....

:eek:

Wish I would have seen it. I remember watching it a long time ago, but I forgot a lot of the details. I think the UM segment said he was sent to a psychiatric facility for treatment, but I don't know for how long, either.

With that much hate and anger involved, it's a complete miracle that no one died as a result of any of that kid's arsons.

I'd like to see that!

I re-watched the UM segment recently, and it was as creepy as I remembered. Maybe even a little creepier, since I moved to San Mateo County as an adult.

Maybe I should try and find out where some of the locations from the segment were, and go take pictures.

Sorry if I'm repeating a previous thread, I did a quick search and came up with nothing---I was just watching Cold Case on A&E and they had an episode on the San Mateo Arsonist, the creepy Omar one! It was even creepier than UM!!!!

Apparently they got a lead on a suspect after his own home garage went up in flames. In the garage they found animal parts, sacrifical items, large saws and blades and headless dummies. Lots of home videos were found of other fires he set and of the suspect himself (and his friends) doing bizarre and evil things. One video, the suspect (they blurred his eyes) was calling a homemade dummy "father" and then repeatedly stabbed him and beheaded him. Several vids depicted the youth dressed as a vampire and praising satan and evil and stuff. Very troubled kid. Needless to say, it was very disturbing.

Creepy half hour. Didn't know if anyone else watched it. The cops said they allowed the 18year old to plead guilty to only the fire that was shown on UM, although they know he committed several others--they said they wanted to get him help and not so much punish him. Can't remember the time he got, but hopefully he's a much healthier member of society now....

:eek:

Thank god I missed this. I watched the episode once on UM & that was more then enough for me. That guy is a looney tune & just listening to the UM gives me the creeps. If anyone has watched this episode at night, kudos to you cause I could barely stand watching it in the daytime. :lol: I have to say this Omar guy should be doing horror movies. He would fit perfectly in the mix. :lol:

It's gonna be back on in about a half an hour according to www.aetv.com

Okie dokie. I watched it. That dude has issues.

Since the guy was around 18 when he was setting those fires in the late 80s, he's around 40 years old now. I wonder if they were ever able to rehabilitate him or if he was so messed up that he was in and out of the system until the point that he ended up being in the system permanently.

edit: Oh, and the case they had on before his was the one about Peter Kupaza, the guy who killed, skinned, and dismembered his cousin from tanzania who was living with him. She was ID'd through a new type of high tech thingie that built a reproduction of her skull from laser cuts of paper, then the forensic artist made a clay likeness of her that immediately led to her identity.

I noticed that they used the dog, Eagle, in that case. Eagle was the dog whose owner, Sandra Anderson, was proven to be a fraud, who was planting fake evidence at crime scenes. I think that the guy was guilty in this case. He lied to the cops from the very first question of "do you recognize the woman in this picture?" When everyone else said it looked like his cousin, he couldn't think of anyone that it resembled. I wonder if this case was one of the ones that they went back through to make sure that his conviction stuck.

I actually saw the Cold Case Files segment on the "Omar" arsonist about two years before I ever knew there was a UM segment on him. I guess that's why the UM segment didn't really freak me out when I first saw it, because I already knew it was some dipwad kid who'd been caught.

I am really sorry that I missed this. It is one of my favorite cases. I remember in the UM segment they did not identify the arsonist (I believe it was because he was underage). Did they give his name in the CCF segment?

I am really sorry that I missed this. It is one of my favorite cases. I remember in the UM segment they did not identify the arsonist (I believe it was because he was underage). Did they give his name in the CCF segment?

I don't know about CCF but I have seen the Omar story profiled on another show and the kid's name was never disclosed, nor did they show his face.

Yep, they blurred out his face and that of his friend when they were showing clips of the videos they had taken of themselves.

I'm not exactly sure why the authorities decided to conceal this guy's identity. He was an adult when he committed some of those arsons so it's not like they had to protect him because he was a minor. The could have ID'd him if they wanted to, I guess...

Although, the authorities viewed the videos and recognized that the kid needed professional help. They seemed really interested in getting him treatment, rather than just having him tossed in jail. The fact that he went on to a mental health facility may have been a major reason they didn't reveal his name publicly.

they had it on spike a few years back on america's craziest or wildest videos and he lit the fires and he spoke in this chilling waspy voice.

what is the name of the episode

they had it on spike a few years back on america's craziest or wildest videos and he lit the fires and he spoke in this chilling waspy voice.

what is the name of the episode

On UM, it's called The Stockton Arsonist. I don't know what Cold Case Files called it.

Here's a link to the UM website summary:

http://www.unsolved.com/ajaxfiles/sol_stockton_arsonist.htm

MissKitka, not only was he an adult when he committed some major arsons, he actually lit one house on fire while it was occupied, at night!

The people living there discovered the fire and put it out before it had a chance to kill them.

That's the only reason this guy is an arsonist and not a murderer.

I saw that Cold Case Files episode. What a freaking dork. And very sick too. His videos were stupid and creepy. You know what really pissed me off, is the aronist investigators were all like "we were just so happy we were able to identify this young man and get him some help" What!? Punk was a serial arsonist, could have killed someone, and he caused millions in damage. Oh and he tortured animals! That's worse than the arson.

How pathetic these law enforcement folks were with their "oh poor boy, let's help him" Please gimme a break. You know what his punishment should have been? He should have been doused with gasoline and then lit on fire! Now that would've been poetic justice. Maybe somebody could have videotaped it while saying "ooooh look at the fire! Look at pathetic loser burn to death! I told you I'd do it Omar! ahahahahahaha!"

Now wouldn't that have been a just punishment? Instead of a weak slap on the wrist. Unbelievable.

Torturing animals.
Setting fires.

The next step in the historically predictable pattern is full blown serial killer.

For anyone interested, the CCF files on the arsonist is on Wednesday, July 2nd @ 6 am central on Lifetime Movie Network.

did they give an episode name for this one? I'm having trouble finding it.

did they give an episode name for this one? I'm having trouble finding it.

I think it's "Firey Flicks"

I think it's "Firey Flicks"

drop the 'y' and you have it.

I just caught this on CCF from the A&E website, not knowing they covered this (or the Eva Shoen murder for that matter). "Nice" surprises.

Those LARP tapes of Omar's they showed ... holy frackballs.

I so want to see this after reading this thread.

I so want to see this after reading this thread.

Season 1 episode 14 on A&E’s official streaming app and website, requires a cable or satellite subscription account.

Season 1 episode 14 on A&E’s official streaming app and website, requires a cable or satellite subscription account.

Worst modern streaming website I have ever seen. Tried to watch it and got about 7 straight minutes of ads and finally gave up. I think it gets caught in an infinite ad loop sometimes?

Weren't they just a bunch of LARPers who didn't want the houses built because it was encroaching on their woods to play in? And that's why they burned them down?

Weren't they just a bunch of LARPers who didn't want the houses built because it was encroaching on their woods to play in? And that's why they burned them down?

Yes and no. I mean that is basically it for the UM side but the guy had more problems than that and its an interesting twist that his movies tell the story.

Possibly an update.
Better than nothing perhaps.

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1190047909099773952.html

The TL;DR
Users on a website claim to know the narrator. Says he died recently.

Possibly an update.
Better than nothing perhaps.

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1190047909099773952.html

The TL;DR
Users on a website claim to know the narrator. Says he died recently.

"The narrator," as in the voice of "Look at it, Omar!"

If I remember correctly, he was a juvenile when this happened, which means he passed away young. Sad.

I work in tech, I’ve developed relationships with people in Silicon Valley who have lived in Redwood City since the 80s. I wanted to ask them so bad if they knew about this case, if they knew the deranged kid on the tape. I didn’t ask because I figured they’d look at me like I’m strange after that

I work in tech, I’ve developed relationships with people in Silicon Valley who have lived in Redwood City since the 80s. I wanted to ask them so bad if they knew about this case, if they knew the deranged kid on the tape. I didn’t ask because I figured they’d look at me like I’m strange after that

That was the first case I remember from UM and it spooked me.

Makes me sad to think the narrator is gone. I often still say "look at it burn Omar" when I light my charcoal.

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6c5vn2

Don’t know if this is a repeat, but here’s the CCF episode

Thanks. Haven't seen that in years. It makes me realize how much I miss Bill Kurtis and his quality programming. Guess he won't be coming out of retirement from his Kansas ghost town any time soon.

Are there more episodes of CCF (and any other Kurtis shows) available on dailymotion or elsewhere? Haven't looked.

This was quite possibly the segment that scared me the most when I watched UM as a kid. I believe it's possible to rehabilitate most people, but there are some who are, sadly, just beyond saving. Based on his actions, I'd bet my right arm that this guy would have gone on to become a full-blown serial killer (who knows - perhaps he's responsible for a number of unsolved murders). I also wonder how the tape and the jacket came to be where they were found. I'm guessing Frank wanted to keep this tape as a trophy - I doubt he would have tossed it deliberately.

One thing that always struck me about his voice and his delivery were that it sounded like bad acting from a B-grade horror film. The laughter and the talk about "evil and sin" sound so contrived it's cringey, like he's trying a bit too hard to play an evil villain. Perhaps this makes me a bad person, but I'm not sorry he's dead. Sounds like humanity as a whole is safer and better off without him.

https://www.smdailyjournal.com/news/local/coroner-identifies-man-killed-in-hit-and-run-on-101/article_fd525f5b-3d8e-5db8-9eaf-c34f543017a9.html

Looks like he was identified as John Hannon in this article, so I'm not sure where why the poster at the bottom of this page https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1190047909099773952.html refers to him as Frank. Maybe everyone agreed to call him by a different name online.

One thing that always struck me about his voice and his delivery were that it sounded like bad acting from a B-grade horror film. The laughter and the talk about "evil and sin" sound so contrived it's cringey, like he's trying a bit too hard to play an evil villain. Perhaps this makes me a bad person, but I'm not sorry he's dead. Sounds like humanity as a whole is safer and better off without him.

When I watched the segment as a kid, I was scared out of my wits, but I was also frustrated when investigators were speculating that it was a disgruntled employee or something and wondered if it was an adult.

And I figured out right away that this was a kid messing around, clearly. Its a very disturbing way to mess around, but there was no doubt in my mind that we were dealing with a teen. And what he was saying was indicative of that. He even went off on a tangent about "Ancient Spirits of Evil!" or something like that, and kid me was like "Mumm-Ra says that! That's from Thundercats! This guy watches Thundercats!".

Interestingly, watching the segment today, it almost feels like the kid is doing a (bad) impression of Heath Ledger's Joker...two decades before that movie even came out. Its weird.

I never really got to see what he looks like I always want to see what the arsonist look like the face behind The Voice traumatized me since childhood.

https://www.smdailyjournal.com/news/local/coroner-identifies-man-killed-in-hit-and-run-on-101/article_fd525f5b-3d8e-5db8-9eaf-c34f543017a9.html

Looks like he was identified as John Hannon in this article, so I'm not sure where why the poster at the bottom of this page https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1190047909099773952.html refers to him as Frank. Maybe everyone agreed to call him by a different name online.

Sorry, did I miss something? Is the dead man the Stockton arsonist?

So the arsonist was killed by someone named Sharon Oo?

Serious issue, shallow thought: What kind of name is "Oo"? Frankly, it sounds made up, a la Todd Gaack.

Some pictures, finally.

John Hannon:
https://i.postimg.cc/9rzbjPGS/IMG-3792-2.jpg (https://postimg.cc/9rzbjPGS)

Omar:
https://i.postimg.cc/94TqhbFW/50-FC6892-BB10-4-A26-A9-E4-3962079-BAF12.jpg (https://postimg.cc/94TqhbFW)

Some pictures, finally.

John Hannon:
https://i.postimg.cc/9rzbjPGS/IMG-3792-2.jpg (https://postimg.cc/9rzbjPGS)

Omar:
https://i.postimg.cc/94TqhbFW/50-FC6892-BB10-4-A26-A9-E4-3962079-BAF12.jpg (https://postimg.cc/94TqhbFW)

Not so scary huh

From articles, I know two teens were arrested, but was one of the two teens Omar?

Or was Omar on a WEEK'S VACATION?:p

I never really got to see what he looks like I always want to see what the arsonist look like the face behind The Voice traumatized me since childhood.

Honestly, looks like he could of been the captain of the chess club.

Honestly, looks like he could of been the captain of the chess club.

"I SAID I'D DO ITTTTT" :lol:

"Look at it, Omar" is probably in my Top 10 favorite UM quotes of all time. It's funny to finally see the face behind the voice.

Thank you for the pictures. I'd love to see a tell all post/blog from Omar about everything that happened.

No idea how anyone was ever frightened by the arsonist...I could tell from day one just by his voice that it was some nerdy little 80 pound socially inept shut-in lol.

No idea how anyone was ever frightened by the arsonist...I could tell from day one just by his voice that it was some nerdy little 80 pound socially inept shut-in lol.

The most frightening thing about the arsonist was what they brought up in the segment - if he's not caught, people who burn down homes or kill animals usually eventually gravitate towards killing people. That's an understandable concern.

But as for the voice? I couldn't agree more. Kids voices never scared me.