Cops: Drunken Arsonist Flees Ski Town

James Lyman Hill was working at the Tenney Mountain Ski Area, in New Hampshire on December 9, 1997, when a fellow employee at the ski area witnessed Hill stealing gas from the fueling station.

He filled two five-gallon gas pails of diesel fuel, they said, and aside from the fact that he was stealing gas, no one thought much of it at the time.

But on December 13, around 5:07 p.m., James Hill got a phone call from his girlfriend, Christine. She told him that she had grown not only of his drinking habits, but of his company altogether; she ended the relationship, once and for all.

At the end of the phone call, Christine told Hill she wanted her car returned to Meridith, where she worked.

But when Christine’s car didn’t arrive by 5:30 p.m., she began to worry.

James had her car, but cops say he didn’t intend on returning it immediately; he had some things to attend too.

According to police, Hill used some of the stolen fuel to light Christine’s house ablaze.

The Meredith Fire Department received reports around 5:50 p.m. of the home going up in flames. Ten minutes later, Hill dropped off Christine’s car at her place of employment, looking disheveled and stinking of petrol.

Shortly after dropping off Christine’s car, cops allege that Hill headed to the Tenney Mountain Ski Area, where his coworkers reported him for being intoxicated and reeking of gas.

Meredith police officers arrested Hill shortly thereafter for driving while intoxicated.

According to police, Hill mentioned a fire after being arrested, which only added to their suspicion. Unfortunately, police didn’t have enough information to charge him with arson.

Later that evening, Meredith Police officers searched Christine’s car and discovered a pair of fuel-soaked gloves, as well as the partially empty five-gallon gas cans.

But Hill hit the road before police had enough evidence to arrest him.

According to a witness who came forward, Hill fled the state and was headed for international climes -— possibly Cuba.
 

Lost At Sea? Or With The Wind In His Sails?

Hill fell off the radar until January 1998, when New Hampshire authorities discovered he was wanted in Monroe County, Fla. for grand theft auto.

During a follow up investigation, police pinpointed Hill in the Florida Keys; a witness spotted him on January 17, boarding a boat and heading out to sea.

On January 19, police discovered that the 39-foot sailboat, worth over $150,000, which Hill had set off in was stolen.

Before long, the stolen vessel was recovered near Key Largo, wrecked and run ashore. Investigators searched the boat and discovered several personal belongings belonging to Hill.

Moreover, a search conducted by the U.S. Coast Guard and other local authorities didn’t find any sign of Hill.

Believing he had been lost at sea, authorities declared Hill dead.

When Faking Your Own Death, If At First You Don't Succeed...

Months passed and everyone assumed James Hill to be dead, the result of the boating accident in the purloined yacht.

But, after months of avoiding detection, someone spotted Hill in southern Florida once again.

According to cops, Hill didn’t waste much time resorting to his devious methods of evading the authorities; he tried, once again, to stage his death.

Police say Hill cleverly left some personal belongings in a car, before crashing the vehicle into a river.

Although Hill’s body was never recovered from the accident, and there have been no signs of him since, police aren’t falling for the same trick twice.

Although his whereabouts are currently unknown, several sources place Hill somewhere in the Cayman Islands. He also has ties to the Northeast.