Today, thousands of firefighters and citizens paid tribute to fallen firefighter Captain Grady Burke (KTRK-13, KHOU-11, KPRC-2).
Burke died while battling a blaze in a structure that has been characterized as an abandoned crack house.
Police have arrested a vagrant, one Jack Cordua, who is suspected of starting the blaze. Arson investigators have stated that they believe Cordua started the blaze while trying to light a crack pipe.
One would think that today’s news coverage might have been devoted to Captain Burke or to the ongoing investigation.
But the Chronicle, in an apparent effort to be “evenhanded,” saw fit to break out a new feature that we’re dubbing The Chron Eye For The Homeless (Alleged) Arsonist Guy (keeping in line with another series). Much like their Death Row Killer Guy series, the Chron goes to great lengths to portray this vagrant and accused arsonist sympathetically:
Arson investigators say Cordua lit a small fire so he could see his crack pipe, but it blazed out of control.
From the Harris County Jail Tuesday, Cordua told a different story.
He admitted he did light a small fire in a glass bowl that cracked, but said he snuffed it out with his fingers.
“I put out all the little embers,” he said. “I could see them in the dark. By the time I left, there were no flames, no embers, not even any smoke left.”
Cordua said he saw people running toward the house as he walked away.
“Anybody else could have started that fire. I’m being railroaded. I’m being crucified,” he said.
[snip]
Behind the glass at 1200 Baker Street, Cordua leaned on a crutch, his left arm in a sling and a collarbone bulging beneath the skin. He had not shaved in days.
He seemed a different person in early November, after a free breakfast provided by a homeless program operated by Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church that was the subject of a Chronicle story. Then he was relatively clean and neatly dressed, and he said he was looking forward to Thanksgiving and the possibility of seeing his mother and three brothers.
Who knew the vagrant the Chron was celebrating in November would be suspected of arson connected to a firefighter’s death just a few months later?
Obviously, there’s no way the newspaper could have known then what would transpire months later. However, they might have had better sense than to run this new Chron Eye on the day this city honored Captain Burke.
UPDATE: Another curious part of the same story is the effective reproduction of a press release from Michael Cordua, brother of the alleged arsonist:
Michael Cordua released a short statement: “As does every Houstonian, my family sends our condolences to the Burke family. As for my brother, I care about him very much. He came to Houston only about two years ago and has never been involved in the business.”
How accommodating of the Chronicle to give Cordua an opportunity to point out the alleged arsonist has never been affiliated with the Cordua restaurants (Churrascos, Americas and the Amazon Grill for those who are wondering). It’s a crassly opportunistic press release indeed that can weave together sympathy for the late Captain Burke, sympathy for one’s brother, AND attempt to protect the family business from any association with the tragedy.
