William Spengler's house

This is the lot where William Spengler's house once stood.

It is located at 191 Lake Road in Webster, New York.

The property was destroyed in 2012 after Spengler deliberately set fire to it and ambushed the firefighters who responded to the blaze.

Spengler was an ex-convict who murdered his grandmother with a hammer in 1980. After spending 17 years in prison for the crime, he began living with his mother, Arline, and sister, Cheryl, at their family home in Webster.

Neighbors said Spengler was very close to his mother but had a hostile relationship with his sister.

After their mother died in October 2012, Cheryl began making plans to sell the property and move to Henrietta, New York.

Killings

In the early hours of December 24, 2012, Spengler murdered his sister and set their home on fire.

The 62-year-old then grabbed a revolver, a 12-gauge shotgun, and a .223 Bushmaster AR-15 rifle and positioned himself on a small berm across the street.

When members of the West Webster Fire Department arrived to extinguish the flames, Spengler began shooting at them.

Two firefighters, 19-year-old Tomasz Kaczowka and 43-year-old Michael Chiapperini, were killed, and two other men were injured.

The attack and subsequent police standoff prevented firefighters from intervening. The blaze eventually spread, destroyed six other properties, and left two homes uninhabitable due to smoke damage.

When police reached the scene and returned fire, Spengler fled and fatally shot himself.

During the cleanup, police discovered Cheryl's body and a note that Spengler had left inside the property.

It read:

"I still have to get ready to see how much of the neighborhood I can burn down, and do what I like doing best, killing people."

Following the shooting, investigators learned that Spengler had paid a neighbor, Dawn Nguyen, to illegally purchase firearms on his behalf. In 2014, she was sentenced to eight years in federal prison for falsifying business records and providing guns to a convicted felon.

Nguyen was released in 2021.