Report: Arson suspect set fires before attending reunion

MILPITAS, Calif. (AP) — A newspaper reports a man traveled from Missouri to Northern California to set more than a dozen wildfires before attending his 50th high school reunion.

A former classmate told the San Jose Mercury News that Freddie Owen Graham appeared happy at the party on Sept. 21. Rich Santoro said Graham, a Milpitas, California native who has lived in the Kansas City area for the past three decades, didn’t seem troubled or upset.

However, state fire investigators said Graham told them he was in an “emotional” state over the loss of his wife when he tossed flaming pieces of paper onto the side of a road.

Santoro recalled Graham lamenting about attending the reunion without his wife.

Graham is being held on $2 million bail on 13 counts of arson.