Man charged with arson, murder after woman dies in fire
COBB COUNTY, Ga. - Police said they have charged a man in the death of a 62-year-old woman whose body was found in a burned condo last Tuesday.
Firefighters said the blaze broke out just before 7:30 a.m. at a unit on Drennon Avenue in Austell. Cobb County investigators said a 62-year-old woman and her small dog were killed.
Cobb County Fire investigators said the blaze started in an upstairs bedroom and raced through the condo. Fire crews pushed their way through the heat and flames and pulled out the woman and a man. The woman later died at the hospital. A third person, the wife of the man, was also inside at the time, she got out without any injuries.
Investigators said Richard Elsner intentionally set the fire. He was charged with felony murder and arson.
Elsner was still in WellStar Cobb Hospital awaiting surgery Tuesday.
No word on what led investigators to Elsner.
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