A fire that killed a mother and her four children in Missouri was intentionally set by the mother, police said.
St. Louis County police said late Wednesday that Bernadine “Birdie” Prusner, her 9-year-old twin daughters Ivy and Lily Prusner, and her children Jackson Spader, 5, and Jackson Spader, 2, were arrested. It was announced that a preliminary investigation had concluded that he had died. -Old Millie Spader was a murder-suicide.
Police Sergeant Tracy Panas said in an email that investigators believe Bernadine Prusner, 39, set the mattress on fire. “There was also a note left behind by Bernadine stating his intention to take his life and that of his children,” Panus said. Other details of the investigation were not disclosed.
Firefighters gather around the burnt out portion of a home after extinguishing a house fire on Monday, February 19, 2024, in Ferguson, Missouri. Police said the fire was being investigated as a “suspicious object” and killed a mother and her four children in the early hours of Monday. . ” (David Carson/St. Louis, via Post-Deployment AP)
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Responding firefighters found the Ferguson home engulfed in flames at 4:23 a.m. Monday. Neighbors tried to save the family, but the fire was too strong.
Prusner and the children’s father have been embroiled in a long-running legal dispute over the children, according to a statement released by Prusner’s attorney, Nathan Cohen, on behalf of the family. She was happy and enjoying her life and was a loving mother, but her court battle brought her a moment of crisis, her statement said.
“Birdie found himself in a terrible situation with tragic consequences,” the statement said.
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KSDK-TV reported that the two’s fathers also released a joint statement.
“As fathers, we must now focus on honoring four beautiful lives, and we will do that together,” they said. “We would like to express our gratitude to our community, to the people we know, and to the many we have never met, who have shown us incredible support. We will continue to need it. .”
