A February fire that killed a 45-year-old man in Elkridge has been classified as a homicide, Howard County police said yesterday.
The decision came after an autopsy by the state medical examiner in June, but the Police Department did not announce it formally until crime statistics were released Wednesday. It is the only death classified as a homicide this year in Howard County.
John Henry Jacobs was killed in the Feb. 10 fire that severely damaged his house in the 5800 block of Race Road, police said.
Sgt. Steve Keller, a police spokesman, said no arrests have been made.
Diane Border, a 46-year-old woman who lived at the house, was not injured in the fire, which fire investigators have classified as arson. The fire caused about $80,000 in damage.
Ms. Border was questioned by investigators after the fire, but Sergeant Keller declined to call her a suspect.
Neighbors told authorities that they heard a man and a woman arguing before the fire and that a kerosene heater was thrown during that argument. Fire investigators say they believe the blaze began in the kitchen.
By the time firefighters arrived, fire was coming out of every window of the house, authorities said.
Mr. Jacobs' death is being investigated by detectives from the Howard County Police Department and the state Fire Marshal's Office.
