DENVER — The handyman accused of intentionally causing an explosion that leveled a multiplex in Denver's Baker neighborhood threatened to "get even" with the building owner and was accused of "peeping" on tenants, according to a Denver arrest warrant.
Todd Norman Perkins, 56, faces attempted first-degree murder charges and first-degree arson charges. He is accused of pouring gasoline and damaging natural gas valves throughout the unit at 368 N. Santa Fe Dr. in Denver last August.
The subsequent explosion leveled the building and left seven people injured and two critically injured, one of whom was Perkins, according to the arrest warrant.
Perkins lived on a camper on the property, the arrest warrant says, and had recently been fired "because of situations involving the owner of the building as well as tenants of it."
According to interviews with victims and tenants of the building and detailed in the arrest warrant, Perkins "creeped out" many of them and would visit the roof without authorization to look through the skylights to watch their activities.
"The day before the explosion, the owner of the building built a fence across the rear portion of it to keep Mr. Perkins off the property," the arrest warrant says.
Perkins threatened to "get even" with the building owner, and he "fabricated lies about the owner of the building," the arrest warrant says.
Investigators also say they found a two-page paper entitled, "The moral things Tom has done to me because Im a cowerd" written by Perkins in his camper.
The affidavit says Perkins on Aug. 14, 2018 entered the basement of the apartment unit at 368 N. Santa Fe Dr. carrying a small gasoline container, and then used a wrench to unhook natural gasoline lines leading to the water heater, furnace and a stove. Perkins then attempted to pour gasoline throughout the basement, some of which inadvertently splashed on his clothing, and then set the container at the bottom of the stairwell, the arrest warrant says.
Perkins was planning to create an ignition scenario, possibly via the thermostat that controlled the furnace, to cause an explosion, but the natural gas and gas vapors ignited when he reached the top of the stairs, according to the arrest warrant.
That's when Perkins was blown through the front wall and landed in the front yard, partially buried in a pile of rubble, the arrest warrant says. Perkins eventually gained awareness, the arrest warrant says, and witnesses said they saw him climb through the debris and walk to the camper where he lived.
Perkins was arrested at a Lakewood medical facility and is currently being held at the Jefferson County Jail. He is due in court Thursday.
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