A Story About Family

My cousin Destiny who I am not sure I ever met (we reconnected on FB) sent me the below article about her father, who died when she was young.



2/25/1986

Barely two hours after the start of a pre-trial hearing aimed at suppressing his confession to murder by arson, a Centereach man apparently changed his mind yesterday and pleaded guilty.

`I broke the window. I lit a book of matches and threw them in, on the bed,'' Juan Figueroa, 30, of 14 Magnolia St., said in response to questions by Suffolk County Court Judge John Vaughn, after he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of Arthur Kangas, 41, last Sept. 14.

Assistant District Attorney Steven Zimmer said that in return for the guilty plea, he would recommend a sentence of 15 years to life in prison - the statutory minimum for second-degree murder - and Vaughn said he would probably follow that recommendation.

Kangas died of suffocation in the fire, which destroyed the garage apartment that was his home at 30 Champlin St., Lake Ronkonkoma. The garage and adjoining house were owned by Theresa Miller, and Figueroa had been a tenant there until she evicted him in May for nonpayment of rent.

In court yesterday, Figueroa told Vaughn that he knew Kangas was a tenant in the garage apartment but did not know Kangas was home when he set the fire. At the time of the fire, he told police that he was passing by on his bicycle and had tried unsuccessfully to waken and rescue Kangas.

What was to be a hearing to set ground rules for Figueroa's trial began about 11 a.m. yesterday, with Suffolk Homicide Det. Daniel Quinn testifying that suspicion was directed at Figueroa after Miller, who had come home from work unexpectedly because of illness, saw him there and told police that he didn't belong there. Defense lawyer William Griffin told Vaughn that he would try to prove that the confession had been forced from his client and that he had been denied his right to a lawyer.

But after less than an hour of testimony by Quinn, and a lunch break, Figueroa pleaded guilty. Vaughn set April 7 for sentencing.



Arthur Kangas was my Dad’s oldest brother and he died in 1985. I knew bits and pieces of the story but because I was only 5 when it happened, I knew very little of what really happened. I remember going to King Kullen and Cheap John’s in Center Moriches with my Uncle and he’d hold my hand and as we’d skip across the parking lot we’d sing “Lou lou, skip to my lou, skip to my lou my darling.” I also remember an awesome Smurf doll he got me one Christmas. So the few memories I have of him were good ones.

My cousin Destiny didn’t really know her father and only knew that he died in an “accidental” fire. A Newsday (the Long Island newspaper) reporter recently contacted her for a statement as the man that caused his death was released from prison in May of this year. She also wanted to know if Destiny would be interested in meeting the man because there was talk of him apologizing to the family. Destiny was very weirded out by the whole situation so she contacted me to get in touch with the family (because she really doesn’t know any of us). Destiny did say she would be interested in meeting him if that was to be set up.

I talked to my Dad and he already knew about the situation, and had no interest in meeting the man (as did most of his brother’s – my dad is one of 9). He felt that the man had served his time and “that was that”. Most of my dad’s sister’s were interested in meeting the man.

Honestly, I don’t know why I’m blogging about this, I think I just needed to get it out (and isn’t that part of what blogs are for? :) When I read the article for the first time and learned what really happened, I was so sad for my Dad. My Uncle was so young when he died and my father has been without his brother for over 25 years. The man that killed him is only in his 50’s and will possibly go on to live a long, fulfilling life. It’s just sad and hurtful to me that this man is free. While I do agree that he served his time, it just seems so unfair.

Thanks for reading.

xoxo