HANCOCK MAN CHARGED IN ARSON MURDERS

(Hancock, MD) – A continuing investigation by the Office of the State Fire Marshal, the Maryland State Police Homicide Unit, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, has resulted in the arrest of a Washington County man for an arson earlier this week that took the lives of two young sisters.

Clarence F. Meyers, 38, of the 200-block of Old Route 40, Hancock, Md., is charged with two counts of murder, three counts of arson, and two counts of child abuse. He is being held in the Washington County Detention Center without bail.

The victims are identified as Nicole R. Gross, 15, and her sister, Mary A. Gross, 12, both of whom lived with their mother, Melissa Lindeman, and the accused. An autopsy revealed both victims died of smoke inhalation.

The investigation began shortly before 11:00 p.m. on February 16, 2009, when fire and rescue personnel responded to the single family home for a fire. Lindeman and Meyers were able to escape from the fire, but fire investigators found the bodies of the two victims in their second floor bedroom.

Deputy state fire marshals conducted a detailed fire investigation and requested assistance from BATF electrical engineers and fire research engineers. Investigators were able to determine the fire started in the basement and that it was arson.

Further investigation by the Maryland State Police Homicide Unit led to the development of incriminating evidence against Clarence Meyers, Lindeman’s reported boyfriend. Meyers met with State Police investigators last night at the Hagerstown Barracks. Late last night, after consultation with the Washington County State’s Attorney’s Office, State Police investigators and deputy state fire marshals charged Meyers with the murders of the two sisters and the arson that caused their deaths.

NOTE: OFFICIALS FROM THE WASHINGTON COUNTY STATE’S ATTORNEY’S OFFICE, MARYLAND STATE POLICE, AND OFFICE OF THE STATE FIRE MARSHAL WILL HOLD A NEWS CONFERENCE RE: THIS ARREST AT 2:00 P.M. TODAY, AT THE MARYLAND STATE POLICE HAGERSTOWN BARRACKS, 18345 COLONEL HENRY K. DOUGLAS DRIVE, HAGERSTOWN, MD.