Gasoline, DNA, and a bright flash: Inside NJ’s chilling arson murder case

🚨 Fanwood man accused of killing his 82-year-old neighbor in a blaze intentionally set.
🎥 Surveillance video footage shows the victim’s neighbor entering her home repeatedly before the fire.
⚖️ Murder and arson charges filed: The 70-year-old Union County man remains jailed as prosecutors outline chilling evidence.

A 70-year-old Union County man accused of intentionally setting a house fire to kill his next-door-neighbor was caught on surveillance video, milling between their Fanwood homes in the middle of the night, police records reveal.

William Ahle has been charged with murder, felony murder, burglary, and aggravated arson in the July killing of 82-year-old Virginia Cranwell.

Ahle has been in Middlesex County Jail since his arrest on Dec. 10.

On Dec. 18, a judge granted the prosecutor's request for pretrial detention.

Read More: Fanwood man charged with murder in neighbor's deadly house fire 

Defendant was the one who called 911, police say

Ahle was the person to call first responders the night of the fire, and said he had tried to run inside and save the victim.

However, video shows Ahle entering the victim’s home three times, twice before the fire, in the two hours leading up to the tragic death.

On July 25, around 1:37 a.m., Ahle called 911 to report a house fire with a victim trapped.

Cranwell was found in her bedroom, on the floor near her window.

Surveillance footage contradicts initial electrical fire theory

The initial cause was thought to be electrical fire — but then, investigators watched surveillance video from a nearby home, across the street.

A person believed to be Ahle is seen going from his own garage, with an item in-hand, to the victim’s garage, opening the door halfway just before midnight, and ducking inside.

He emerges and goes back to his own garage, before reentering the victim’s garage, and then is not seen coming out for about an hour and a half.

Around 1:28 a.m., a very bright flash is seen from the victim’s bedroom window on-camera - emanating through the house, after which smoke is seen billowing from the victims house.

Ahle is then seen leaving his neighbor's home through the front door, disappearing back into his own garage.

He then exits his own garage - reenters the victim’s front door and comes back out, closing her garage door and waiting outside until police respond.

Gasoline, accelerant evidence and DNA tie suspect to arson, investigators say

The accused murderer had been a handyman of sorts for the victim, helping twice in the year, fixing a washer dryer and then changing the smoke alarm batteries.

Days after the deadly fire, a K-9 search of the victim’s home detected accelerant on the hallway floor outside the victim’s bedroom, a melted plastic item was recovered and a white gas-can like nozzle, found under an ottoman in the downstairs living room.

All the items tested positive at a State Police lab for gasoline.

The gas can nozzle also had Ahle’s DNA on it, records show.

On Aug. 6, police searched Ahle’s home and recovered a burned, black slipper from an upstairs bedroom, which also tested for gasoline.

Investigators pieced together that the deadly fire had started in the hall outside the victim’s bedroom and that it appeared intentionally set.

Cromwell’s cause of death was smoke inhalation and burns and it was deemed a homicide.

‘A radiant and gentle soul’: Family mourns beloved Fanwood woman

Cranwell was mourned as “a radiant and gentle soul,” who “was soft-spoken, emotionally invested, and deeply caring-to people, animals, and every living thing,” according to an emotional obituary.

She is survived by three adult children, as well as grandchildren, her former husband and a “wide circle” of loved ones.

Cranwell was also remembered by her children as “deeply creative and lived with an artist's eye. She sketched wildlife with care and precision, and decorated her garden with hand-picked rocks, each one placed with intention.”

Ahle is slated to return to court on Feb. 5, 2026 for a plea disposition conference.

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