I also met with Assitant Fire Marshall Lori Miller and Assistant Fire Chief Steve Stolz of the Boulder Fire Department who were on the scene as well. Together we walked up the walk leading to the front door of 755 15th. From the sidewalk I observed something propping open the mail slot. When we reached the front door I could clearly see that the item was a matchbook. The white matchbook had "Gosage" and the numbers 441-4440 and 3300 on it in blue ink. I also observed a burnt match lying on the ground below the mail slot. I detected the odor of smoke through the mail slot. Detective Gosage told me had observed a lighter and some burnt material on the floor when looking in the window in the front door. Detective Gosage informed me that he had placed a call to Trip Demueth [sic] at the D.A.'s Office and was waiting to hear from Demueth [sic] as to how we should proceed with the scene. 

After a lengthy wait Detective Gosage received a call from Detective Thomas who had gone to the D.A.'s office to find Demueth [sic]. Detective Gosage informed me that arrangements had been made for a representative from Chrisman, Bynum & Johnson, the Ramsey's [sic] attorneys, to meet us and open the house for us so that we could proceed with our investigation. Lucy Hale, from Chrisman, Bynum & Johnson, arrived at the house at about 1345 hours. I accompanied Hale into the house through the door on the north side. Hale unlocked the door for me. Upon entering the house I smelled a strong odor of smoke. Once at the front door I observed a small pile (about six to eight inches square) of  burned debris below the mail slot. There was apparent flame impingement and light charring on the base board and wall below the mail slot. The paint was burned off the baseboard and the wall was burned as well. However, the interior door of the mail slot was closed. Shortly after entering the home I was contacted by Jennifer Gedde who came to the front door. She said she was an investigator for Chrisman, Bynum & Johnson. She said she had been in the home earlier on the same date and had observed the fire damage. She said she closed the door to the mail slot with a towel taken from the kitchen to prevent any disturbance of the scene by wind blowing through the opened mail slot. She said she reported her discovery to Brian Morgan. 

I observed some soot inside the mail chute and also on the interior portion of the door to the mail chute. There was also some burned debris at the opening of the mail chute. 

I also observed two butane lighters, one blue and one white with a 7-11 logo, lying on the tile floor near the burnt debris. There were loose, unburned pages of the novel An Interview with a Vampire on the floor in the immediate area of the burned debris. After photographing the scene I collected the burnt match from the front door step and packaged it in a bindle. I collected the unburned matchbook propping the mail slot open and placed it in a small arson can. 

I then photographed the interior portion of the scene. Fire Marshall Miller and I then sifted through the debris and found the remains of another matchbook. We also found a small newspaper or magazine article which was written by J.T. Colfax. This article had slight fire damage. We collected the unburned papers including the article and packaged them together in a paper bag.  We collected the burnt matchbook and put it in a small arson can. We collected the remaining debris in a large can and placed the lighters in separate paper bags. 

Outside the house near the front door I observed several twigs and sticks that could have been used to push open the inner door to the mail drop through the exterior slot. Officer Zamora dusted the mail slot lid for latent fingerprints but did not find any. 

Jennifer Gedde was allowed into the kitchen area of the home by Lucy Hale. We did not allow her to be in the crime scene area. Prior to leaving the scene about about 1430, Detective Gosage and I accompanied Hale on a walk through of the house to check for any signs of damage or entry. None was found. I observed that one of the wrought iron chairs on the back patio was turned away from the table and facing the west dining room windows. Detective Gosage informed me that he and Detective Thomas had walked around the outside of the house and did not locate any other items of evidentiary value. 

I personally placed the items I collected into evidence at the police department along with the two rolls of color film I took at the scene. 

Officer McPherson provided me with a copy of some notes recovered from Colfax incident to this arrest. I noted that in one of the notes he states "Listening to the song I started crying on this picnic table..." This may have been a reference to the wrought iron picnic table on the patio of the home. 

Status: Cleared by Arrest 
Approved by: Detective C. Weinheimer #625