During Monday's blaze at a Bronx high-rise, firefighters came upon the corpse of a man whose throat had been slashed. Donald Holliday, a 53-year-old whom neighbors described as a "loner," had been knifed a dozen times in the chest and slashed across the neck. But was Holliday's killer also responsible for the two-alarm fire?
Because of bloodstains in the hallways, police believe the attacker jumped the victim in the stairwell and then dragged him to his apartment on the 14th floor of 69 West 225th St. Around 9:20 am, the stabber lit the building up to hide the crime. Another arsonist struck the Bronx just three weeks back, and that's not all. In 2009 the Marble Hill Houses where the fire took place were a hotbed for arson activity.
So far, it's not clear what motivated the bloody and destructive crime. The victim had only a small criminal records and cops aren't sure if the apartment was robbed. Neighbors didn't know Holliday well. They told the NY Daily News he kept to himself and had few visitors.
