HE CONFESSED

Man Who Set Fatal Fire When He was 12 Charged With Murder Decades Later

The blaze that killed firefighter Gary Parks in 1987 went unsolved for 34 years.

A man who allegedly confessed to starting a fire in 1987—when he was 12 years old—has pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in connection with the death of a firefighter battling the flames. Elmer Nash, 46, was identified as a suspect when Washington State reopened the case in 2016. After multiple interviews, he allegedly admitted he set the fire in the library of Everett Community College but had not intended to hurt anyone. Firefighter Gary Parks was separated from his colleagues and trapped as flames consumed the building. Nash will be sentenced later this spring; it’s not clear what punishment he faces for a crime committed when he was a juvenile.