Serial Arsonist Thomas Sweatt Revealed That Each Fire Served a Different Purpose

In 2013, Scott Fulkerson spoke at a seminar where he discussed the criminal profile of an arsonist, reported The Washington Post. As an investigator for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Fulkerson (ATF) has worked on those kinds of cases for much of his career.

He said they are usually older white men who feel wronged by society in some capacity. However, on that day, he was there to discuss a case that didn't fit the profile.

"You may have a serial arsonist in your jurisdiction and you don’t know it yet," he told the room filled with investigators. Something he impresses upon fellow agents is the fact that people who commit crimes like this, often respond to "feigned admiration."

Investigators often have to look these men in their faces and act as if their destruction is art. Such was the case for one man in particular who tormented Washington, D.C. for two decades. Where is Thomas Sweatt now? Here's what we know.

In September 2005, Sweat pleaded guilty to various counts which included but were not limited to first-degree premeditated murder (felony murder) and second-degree murder. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole and is currently serving his time at the Federal Correctional Institution Petersburg Medium in Hopewell, Va.

When Sweatt was arrested in April 2005, he was connected to at least 45 fires in and around the Washington, D.C. area, reported the Washingtonian.

He would soon confess to hundreds more, which stretched as far back as 1985. Investigators didn't connect many of these fires until they began comparing notes in 2003. Based on the amount of similarities present in these fires, investigators deduced they were probably set by one man. Unfortunately, they had no evidence.

Local police brought in the ATF to help, which is when Tom Daley, a certified fire investigator for the bureau, showed up.

"We tried everything," he said. "DNA, fingerprints, trace evidence, interviews, psychological profiles, geographical profiles. Everything you’ve seen on CSI, every idea, every lead."

Daley eventually figured out that every fire was started using a one-gallon plastic jug filled with gasoline, along with a wick made of clothing. He was able to pull DNA samples from one of them.

After a pair of gasoline-soaked Marine Corps pants were found by one of the fires in Arlington, Va., those were tested for DNA as well. Those samples matched with the DNA found on the gasoline jug. The pants led investigators to the Marine Barracks at Eighth and I streets in Southeast DC where the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) had been investigating their own fires.

They had a video of a car leaving one of the crime scenes, which belonged to Sweatt.

In early 2006, a reporter for the Washington City Paper wrote a letter to Sweatt explaining that he covered his crimes before the arsonist had been caught. Dave Jamieson said he wanted to know more about Sweatt as a "firesetter." It did not take long for the firebug to respond.

"I was pleased to get your letter and hope this could be the beginning of something good," he wrote back."

In another letter, Sweatt revealed that he had what he called a "diary of fires," that he had hidden away in case the ATF needed to look at it.

"I still believe in my mind that the Lord God Almighty brought them (the ATF) people to me because it was time for all this to stop," said Sweatt." He admitted to being tired. Sweatt wanted to get caught.

He revealed that each fire was set for a different reason, though the prevailing motivation was sexual gratification. He enjoyed fantasizing about people trying to escape and liked the feeling of them needing his help. "Then I’d m—-bate [sic] over the fire while driving away from the schene [sic]."

He could still remember each fire vividly and continued to allow his imagination to revisit them. "Those demons are still in me," said Sweatt.