Alleged arsonist Nigel Armstrong will today be arraigned at the Vreed-en-Hoop Magistrate’s Court to answer charges of intentionally setting ablaze his family’s Parika Dam home on Monday and also escaping from lawful custody.
Police allege that on Monday afternoon, Armstrong, 36, carried out the act some two hours after making threats to his reputed wife, Virginia Samuels.
The fire destroyed the entire house and left Samuels and her six children trying to pick up the pieces. They are currently staying with relatives but they are also pleading with the public for some tangible assistance.
The woman had said that while she was at work, at the Parika Primary School, Armstrong visited and verbally abused her and said that he would burn down the house. She, however, did not take him seriously and went back to her work.
A little while later, she received a call informing her that her home was on fire. Since the fire had engulfed the entire two-storey wooden building, she was unable to save anything.
Armstrong and Samuels had been living together for 20 years.
