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Man, woman die in Warren house fire; cops treat site as crime scene
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
A man and woman were found dead in a weekend house fire at 448 Ivanhoe Street NE. About 20 minutes after the fire was reported at 11:35 p.m. Friday, police were advised to treat it “like a crime scene.”
Warren Police Capt. Robert Massucci said the crime-scene treatment was warranted because two people died. The situation will probably be clearer after autopsies are performed today, he added.
Police identified the victims as Charlie McNear, 53, who owned the house, and Sophie Stefek, 41, his girlfriend. Police said Stefek’s body was removed by firefighters while they were still fighting the fire. McNear’s body was removed after the fire was out.
Investigators with the State Fire Marshal’s office, Warren Police Department and Warren Fire Department were at the scene Saturday to continue the investigation.
Mike Stabile, a forensic investigator with Warren police, was among those there. He said police were still trying to determine how the fire started.
Warren Fire Department referred questions to the police department, which is the lead investigative agency in the case.
A neighbor who reported the fire said she heard “two loud bangs” around the time she noticed the fire, police said.
Neighbors interviewed by The Vindicator on Saturday said McNear was physically disabled, with problems walking, and also may have had some mental disability.
“Everybody around here tried to help Charlie out,” one neighbor said. “Everybody would try to give him gas money.”
“It was burning really good,” that neighbor said of the fire. “The Warren Fire Department did a good job putting it out.”
The neighbor said McNear moved into the house about five years ago after the death of his mother, who owned it before him.
McNear is listed in dozens of police reports in recent years. For instance, on Wednesday, he reported that a 42-year-old city man and his girlfriend were at his house and wouldn’t leave. He said he had a protection order against the man.
According to Trumbull County Common Pleas Court records, Magistrate Patrick McCarthy approved a civil stalking protection order against the 42-year-old man, who also has an Ivanhoe address, on Monday. The man received notice of the protection order on Thursday, and it is effective until Jan. 20, 2015.
On Tuesday, McNear reported the electrical box had been stolen from outside of his house. In September, he reported his riding mower was stolen, and in July, he reported a break-in at his house during which pain killer medication was taken.
Ivanhoe is on the far north end of Warren; it is off of Park Avenue.