At one point, Sgt. Paul Zipper told Baye that investigators had spoken with some of his friends and believed he had a history of lighting fires.
This is an updated version of a story posted at 10:57 this morning.
Anthony P. BayeNORTHAMPTON - Anthony P. Baye told police that when he looks back on the events of Dec. 27, 2009, his actions seem to be that of a different person.
"It's like it's somebody else," he told state police fire investigator Michael Mazza and state police Sgt. Paul Zipper. These comments were contained in a videotaped interview with Baye that is now the subject of a hearing in Hampshire Superior Court.
Baye ruminations took place after he initialed a map of Northampton showed where fires were set that night. In the ensuing down time, the investigators are seen trying to puzzle out his motive for setting the fires. The Jan. 4 video shown in court Thursday is the subject of a motion by defense lawyers David P. Hoose and Thomas Lesser, who want to suppress the interview along with evidence gathered by police on the night of the fires. Judge Constance Sweeney will determine whether or not the evidence can be presented at trial.
Baye told his interviewers that he did not act out of anger and was not abused as a child. However, he said he suffered inexplicable bouts of anxiety that cause him to sweat. He told of sweating through his clothes in middle school during such episodes.
"I always wanted to find an answer to that," he said.
When he woke up on the morning after the fires, Baye said he asked himself how he could have done the deeds of the previous night, he told investigators.
"What was I doing last night?" he recalled thinking, "Like, why would I do that?"
Police stopped Baye twice on the night of the fires while he was driving in the vicinity and observing that he was wet and smelled of alcohol. It was raining hard that night. The defense maintains that the officers lacked probable cause to stop and question Baye.
Baye also contends that he was denied his right to a lawyer during the Jan. 4 interview in which he admits that the fire at 17 Fair St. fire was a mistake. That fire took the lives of Paul Yeskie, 81, and his son, Paul Yeskie, Jr., 39. Although investigators are shown assuring Baye on several occasions that he could have a lawyer, they persuaded him that it would be in his interest to continue speaking with them.
Baye told police that he drank 13 beers on the night of the fires. Recalling the events of Dec. 29, he said, "It must have been the booze."
Although he conceded under questioning by police that the Fair Street fire was an accident, Baye subsequently denied any memory of setting it. Baye said he "kind of" remembered a box on the porch of the house. Asked by Mazza if he started the fire in that box, Baye said, "amybe vividly there was a box."
Baye also denied setting other fires in the area. The neighborhood had been besieged by suspicious blazes for several years prior to the rash on Dec. 27, 2009. Mazza is seen telling Baye he suspects him of setting some of them, but Baye said he knew nothing about previous fires on Hawley Street.
At one point, Zipper tells Baye that investigators had spoken with some of his friends and believe he has a history of lighting fires. He mentioned one fire near a dike in Northampton that Baye's friends cited. Baye dismissed it as "stupid kid stuff."
Baye, 26, faces two counts of first degree murder and some 40 other crimes in connection with 15 separate fires set that night. In an effort to get Baye to talk, his interrogators repeatedly assured him that they did not believe he intended to hurt anyone. Mazza told Baye that the Yeskie's died because they had modified the house so that the front door was their only exit.
"They couldn't get out of there on a good day, let alone a bad day," he said.
Mazza also said the Yeskies were hoarders and that the debris contributed to the fire's quick spread. Mutual aid from Amherst did not arrive at Fair Streeet for 15 minutes, a time gap he called "inexcusable."
The nearly 10-hour interrogation ends with Baye's arrest. Mazza explains to him that he will be arraigned in Northampton District Court and later indicted in superior court.
More details coming on MassLive.com and in The Republican.