Serial arson suspect knew his victims in Montco fires, police say. Here's the connection

A former Montgomery County man awaiting trial for allegedly setting fire to a Willow Grove transmission shop and a shed in Huntingdon Valley last year is facing new arson charges for allegedly setting a third fire.

Police in Abington, Upper and Lower Moreland say that 57-year-old Sean Walker Gahagan set all three fires on the same day and that he knew the victims, which included a former neighbor whose house he was convicted of setting on fire nearly 20 years earlier.

Gahagan was arraigned Friday on four felonies, including arson, and a misdemeanor charge in connection with a shed fire in the 2200 block of Charles Street in the Glenside section of Abington Township.

His bail in that case was set at $750,000, but Gahagan, who provided an address in Lebanon County, is currently incarcerated in Lebanon on trespassing-related charges for an incident that occurred several days after the Montgomery County fires.

Authorities say Gahagan set the three fires starting shortly after midnight on Dec. 29, when police and firefighters responded to the Charles Street fire.

The second fire occurred around 8 p.m. in a detached shed in the backyard of a home in the 2300 block of Huntingdon Pike in the Huntingdon Valley section of Lower Moreland.

The third fire was reported less than an hour later at a transmission business in the 600 block of Davisville Road in the Willow Grove section of Upper Moreland. The fire significantly damaged the building, authorities said.

After interviewing the victims, authorities quickly learned a common thread between the three fires: Gahagan.

The owner of the transmission business told police around 10 a.m. on Dec. 29 a former employee, Sean Gahagan, visited the shop and asked about doing some repairs to his 2005 red Chevy Cobalt, according to an affidavit of probable cause.  The visit did not end negatively, the owner said, according to the affidavit.

Surveillance video from the 600 block of Davisville Road showed a man, later identified as Gahagan, arrive at the business around 8:15 p.m. the same day. Shortly before 9 p.m. he was seen running from the business and getting into a car that appeared to be a 2005 Chevy Cobalt, and drove away, police said.

Less than an hour before the Davisville Road fire, surveillance video footage showed a sedan parked in a bank parking lot off Huntingdon Pike and  a person walking toward the Huntington Pike home shortly after 8 p.m., according to the affidavit.

A few minutes later, a flash appeared on the video, which authorities believe was when the fire in the shed ignited.

When fire investigators checked the structure they found a broken window and cans of combustible fluids near the broken window. The homeowner said the items didn’t belong to him and they did not break the window, the affidavit said.

During the investigation, authorities learned that Gahagan was convicted in 2004 of setting fire to the same Huntingdon Pike home where the shed fire occurred on Dec. 29, the affidavit said.

Authorities also learned the Charles Street homeowners knew Sean Gahagan for years, and he would periodically drop by their home to borrow money, the affidavit said.  A few weeks before the fire, the couple said, Gahgan showed up unannounced and repaid them $40, according to the affidavit.

They described their relationship with him as “cordial,” though he had mental health issues that could “negatively affect his behavior,” the affidavit said.

A few days after the Bucks County fires, Lower Moreland police visited Gahagan in jail and he provided a “full confession” to the fires in Upper and Lower Moreland. He also admitted to stealing money from the cash box at the transmission business, the affidavit said.

Gahagan told police that he “felt cheated” about being court-ordered to pay $80,000 in restitution to the Huntington Pike homeowner for his arson conviction, and he was intoxicated and angry that the Charles Street residents didn’t let him stay with them when he had no place to live, the affidavit said.

Gahagan was first charged in January for the Upper and Lower Moreland cases, and waived his right to a preliminary hearing sending the 10 felony and five misdemeanor charges to trial.  His bail on those cases was set at $500,000.

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This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: How Montgomery County police connected 3 arsons cases to one suspect