SEATTLE — An Alaska man has been found guilty of murder for intentionally setting fire to a Seattle motel that resulted in the death of two people over five years ago.
On July 13, 2020, a large fire broke out at the Hillside Motel at 2451 Aurora Ave. in Seattle.
Multiple people had to jump out of fourth-floor windows just to escape the flames.
Several people were injured, and two people died from their injuries several days after the fire.
According to court documents, then 24-year-old Jesse Puff came to the motel two days before the fire looking for a stolen laptop he said had been tracked to the motel.
After leaving empty-handed, Puff allegedly returned two days later with jugs of some sort of liquid.
“He poured it all over the doors — you know, upstairs. And then poured it all the way down the stairs and everything,” said Katie Purcell, a woman who escaped the fire. When KIRO 7 asked her how did she know that, she said: “Because it shows it on the cameras.”
According to court documents, Puff hung around the hotel for about an hour before he was able to get access to the stairwell, where he started the fire.
“By his own admission, he estimated there were 10-12 people inside. He brought the containers of gasoline with him from south Seattle... and spent 12 minutes inside before exiting, putting on a glove, and returning with four jugs of gasoline,” court documents detailed.
Puff said he was from Anchorage and had been traveling on the West Coast playing music. He had only been in Washington for two months when he started the fire.
On Monday, a jury found him guilty of two counts of murder, one count of arson, and three counts of assault.