Federal prosecutors are now pursuing Edward Leon in the 2013 Hulett Street arson that killed a father and three children, according to the Times Union. The case faces hurdles because another man, Robert Butler, was originally charged and jailed for nine months before evidence shifted toward Leon.
Investigators say Leon’s van was caught on street cameras near the fire, and threatening texts linked him to the victims. Witnesses who once implicated Butler later recanted, and Leon was convicted of perjury in 2016 for lying about his whereabouts that night. Prosecutors now cite a recorded 2024 phone call in which Leon allegedly admitted to setting the blaze.
Defense attorneys argue the prior missteps, recanted testimony, and decade-long delay create “reasonable doubt” that could undermine the government’s case at trial.
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