EVERETT, Wash. — An Everett man who failed to appear for sentencing Friday after pleading guilty to the fatal 1987 Everett Community College fire has been arrested.
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The Daily Herald reports Elmer Nash was 12 on Feb. 16, 1987 when he lit a matchstick and dropped it on a pile of books and papers on the floor of the college’s library, igniting a fast-moving blaze that killed Everett firefighter Gary Parks.
Everett police say the Snohomish County Violent Offender Task Force arrested Nash around 10 a.m. Saturday.
The arsonist’s identity remained a mystery until Nash reluctantly confessed in a 2017 interrogation. Now 47, Nash pleaded guilty to murder in March.