A university financial aid advisor in Buffalo, New York is behind bars after being charged with strangling his girlfriend and then setting their home on fire while the new mother and their infant son were inside.
Kidane Haile, 30, who the University of Buffalo confirmed this weekend was their employee, was arraigned Thursday on charges of second-degree murder in the deaths of 29-year-old Kathleen Carrig and their four-day-old son, Noah.
On October 18, around 8:35 p.m, the Buffalo Fire Department arrived on Norwood Avenue on the city’s west side with reports of a fire in a first floor apartment where they found the two victims, who were pronounced dead on the scene, according to the Erie County District Attorney’s Office.
The defendant Haile, however, had survived the blaze and was taken to a local hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation. The building sustained an estimated $100,000 in fire damage, according to authorities.
Meanwhile, when the Erie County Medical Examiner’s Office determined the cause of death of Carrig was strangulation, Buffalo detectives believed they had a domestic homicide on their hands, with the fire possibly set to cover up the crime.
When Haile was released from the hospital after four days of treatment, police were waiting for him. A grand jury ultimately returned the indictment for second degree murder.
“We are anticipating that the evidence is going to show that he intentionally set the fire with gasoline,” Erie District Attorney Mike Keane told reporters in a news conference last week.
The news conference was also attended by Buffalo’s Mayor Christopher Scanlon, who appeared moved by the crime in that his family and the adult victim’s knew each other.
“I can tell you that mine and my family’s connection to the Carrig family dates back prior to my birth, and if my personal experience with the Carrig family is any indication of the type of person that Katie Carrig is, I know that this community has lost one heck of a person,” Scanlon said.
On Friday, the University of Buffalo released a statement, offering the school’s “condolences” and saying it was “aware of the serious charges against Kidane Haile.”
“Although the university cannot comment on specific personnel matters, UB has a robust disciplinary process in place to address instances where an employee may have engaged in criminal activity,” the statement continued.
The university did not reveal how long Haile worked with the institution or how much he directly worked with students.
The cause of death of the newborn has yet to be determined, according to authorities.
An Erie County judge has ordered Haile held without bond, according to news reports.
If convicted, Haile’s problems could far exceed any “disciplinary process” by the university as the suspect could face from 25 years to life in prison.
Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the author of the New York Times best seller House of Secrets and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more
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