The early morning fire in an Old Greenwich home where a 42-year-old man died and his 69-year-old mother was critically injured was deliberately set, according to authorities.
Greenwich Police spokesman Lt. Kraig Gray said, "It was incendiary in nature. Somebody set the fire. It was not spontaneous combustion. (The house) wasn't struck by lightning." Gray would not comment on whether the fire could have been set by the son.
Gray also would not comment on whether Dean Verboven, 42, suffered other injuries such as a gunshot wound. "The investigation is open and ongoing," Gray said. Gray also declined to comment when asked if anything other than the fire may have killed the man or whether any weapons or a note were found in the house.
He said an autopsy will be performed by the office of the Chief State Medical Examiner to determine the cause of death.
Neighbors of Dean Verboven and his mother Barbara Verboven pouring from the windows of the two-story brick and vinyl-sided house at 46 Havemeyer Ln., at the corner of MacArthur Drive in Old Greenwich.
More than 60 firefighters from nearly all of the town's paid and volunteer fire departments responded to the call, according to Greenwich Fire Chief Peter Siecenski. The victims were found on the first-floor of the home, authorities said. Gray said the amount of clutter inside the home "impacted" firefighters' efforts to quell the blaze.
Barbara Verboven remained in critical condition in the burn unit of Bridgeport Hospital late Tuesday afternoon, according to Gray. He said she suffered from medical ailments but did not elaborate. "She was not in the best of health," Gray said.
