Documents disclosed in court showed that Stuart, 71, methodically planned to set fire to his house and end his own life as a way of getting back at his wife who had recently filed for divorce.
As 2012 winds down, The Republican continues its recap of the top 10 news stories of 2012 leading up to Dec. 30 when the complete list will appear in The Sunday Republican. Today, No. 7:
What started as a routine house fire on the morning of July 18 in a residence on Center Street in Ludlow ramped up quickly into a 7 ½ -hour armed standoff between the suspect, retired Springfield police officer George Stuart, and members of local and state police in the woods that ended with shots fired in a failed suicide attempt.
After the dust of the first day settled and details began to emerge the story took on added dimensions of anger, bitterness and spite for Stuart and heroism on the part of Springfield Police Commissioner William Fitchet, who was called into help negotiate Stuart’s surrender but ended up wrestling with him over the gun as Stuart attempted to shoot himself.
George Stuart
Documents disclosed in court showed that Stuart, 71, methodically planned to set fire to his house and end his own life as a way of getting back at his wife who had recently filed for divorce. He allegedly set the fire in his house just a couple hours after he was supposed to attend a divorce hearing in Springfield.
In a suicide note found at the house, Stuart boasted of shredding then burning close to $2 million in stocks, bonds and cash rather than leave it for his wife. “I spent about an hour and a half just shredding the cash from the safe,” Stuart wrote in his final note. “I'm sure it will make for a great fire starter.”
Court documents also revealed that the day before the standoff, Stuart paid a funeral home to handle his burial, leaving instructions that the day of the ceremony was to take place on his wife’s birthday.
After the fire, Stuart retreated to the woods behind his home carrying a handgun, and police barricaded off Center Street. Ludlow responded to the call initially, but soon Springfield police and a state police tactical team were on scene.
As it appeared the standoff was winding down, suddenly the sound of gunfire erupted from the woods behind Stuart’s house, followed by a flurry of activity culminating with an ambulance backing into the woods and then rushing off to the hospital.
Later it was disclosed Stuart placed his gun into the center of his chest and said he was going to pull the trigger. Fitchet who had been trying to talk Stuart into surrendering for most of the day, grabbed the barrel of the gun, beginning a desperate struggle with Stuart.
Stuart did manage to shoot himself but after a month’s stay in the hospital, he had recovered from his wounds to the point where he was able to appear in court on charges related to the arson of his home.
In November, he was appeared in court to seek changes in his probation terms to allow him to live in a Ludlow apartment. He is free on $250,000 bail and has to wear an electronic monitoring device. He is due back in court on March.
At a Springfield police ceremony during which Fitchet presented the department’s Medal of Honor, the highest award for police bravery to four officers and the family of another officer killed on duty, Mayor Domenic Sarno surprised the commissioner by presenting him with his own medal of valor, citing his role in the standoff and how he risked his own life during the struggle over the gun.