PENNSYLVANIA Police: Suspect says voices told him to set fire

The man also said he'd drunk beer and taken tranquilizers.
LEECHBURG, Pa. (AP) -- A former volunteer firefighter charged with starting a duplex fire that killed a woman and her three children last month told investigators that voices in his head ordered him to set the blaze, a state trooper testified.
During a preliminary hearing, Cpl. Raymond Melder said Frederick Anthony Robinson, 51, of Apollo, admitted to police that he started the Sept. 2 fire at an Apollo duplex.
Crystal M. Johnson, 40; Rebecca J. White 11; Jacob J. Patrono, 5, and Cynthia Johnson, 2, all died of smoke inhalation from the fire that apparently began on the porch and spread rapidly into the duplex.
Robinson was a longtime friend of Johnson's and lived in a hotel about three blocks from the family's house, police said.
After the hearing, a district judge ordered Robinson to stand trial on four counts of homicide, two counts of arson and several other charges.
He told officers he was obeying voices in his head when he lighted an envelope and touched it to the carpet on Johnson's front porch, Melder testified. The voices told Robinson he was no good and deserved to die and then told him he should hurt someone else, Melder said.
Robinson also told police he had drunk several beers and taken perhaps a half-dozen tranquilizers, Melder said.
Armstrong County Public Defender Debra Yost, Robinson's attorney, said her defense likely will focus on her client's mental state, especially when police interviewed him.