Investigator found signs of ignitable liquid in burned Modesto bedroom

A Stanislaus County fire investigator on Monday testified what appeared to be evidence that someone poured an ignitable liquid on the bed of Scott and Janet Pettit. Firefighters found the Modesto couple dead in the master bedroom of their burning home a few years ago.

Fire investigator Ed Sears said on the witness stand that someone deliberately started the August 2013 fire at the Pettits’ two-story house on Divan Court in north Modesto.

Sears said he found burn patterns on the queen-size bed that appeared to be the result of someone pouring the ignitable liquid across the top of the bed. He said he also found burn holes that showed the ignitable liquid puddling before the fire was started.

His testimony is part of a preliminary hearing for Brandon Pettit and Felix Valverde. Authorities believe the defendants are responsible for the deaths of Pettit’s parents, Scott and Janet Pettit. Prosecutors say the defendants committed the killings for financial gain.

The two defendants are charged with murder, arson and burglary in the deaths of the couple. At the conclusion of the preliminary hearing, Judge Dawna Reeves will decide whether there’s enough evidence for the defendants to stand trial.

A criminal complaint indicates the Pettits were shot in their home. Investigators have said they believe the fire at the Divan Court home was started to cover up the killings and have confirmed that the victims were dead before the fire started.

During cross-examination, Sears was asked whether he investigates fires as an “arm of the law.” The investigator said he didn’t walk into the burned bedroom looking for a crime. “I look for everything, arson and accidental (cause of a fire),” Sears testified.

He said the heat from the fire was so intense that it caused the sheetrock ceiling to fall; but the rafters and roof joints remained intact. There was extensive fire damage in the master bedroom, which had a bed area, a sitting area and a bathroom area, but the flames only engulfed part of the bedroom.

The flames destroyed the left side of the bed’s headboard, and a burned floor fan in the sitting area was nearly unrecognizable. Sears said Scott Pettit was on the left side of the bed and his wife was on the right side.

He testified that the burn patterns on the bed didn’t have any indication of an ignition source around them, which makes him believe the fire was intentionally started. But the investigator didn’t know what ignited the liquid.

Sears told the judge that his hypothesis of the cause of the fire was based in his experience as an investigator and training; not a scientific analysis of the evidence. He said samples of the materials found in the bedroom were collected and submitted for analysis.

The investigator found an odor consistent with kerosene in the second-floor bedroom. He said they took samples from a couch in the sitting area and later determined it was kerosene. But Sears couldn’t explain why there was no fire damage found on the couch or around the couch.

Testimony in the hearing is expected to continue Tuesday morning in Stanislaus Superior Court.

This story was originally published March 13, 2017 at 4:48 PM with the headline "Investigator found signs of ignitable liquid in burned Modesto bedroom."