In “one of the most tragic and evil events” authorities said they’ve ever seen, a man intentionally set a house fire that killed a paraplegic woman because her sister broke up with him, prosecutors said.
Aaron Clark, 30, knew Olivia Drasher, 20, had cerebral palsy and was paraplegic and nonverbal when he “torched” the house shortly after midnight on Dec. 4, Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said. He was allegedly angry that her sister had broken up with him a day earlier.
“He couldn’t kill the woman who was trying to break up with him, so he took it out on her paraplegic sister by intentionally torching the house when he knew the family was there in the early morning hours of Sunday morning on Dec. 4,” Clark said. Other family members and a nurse were also inside the home at the time. They managed to get out, though the nurse remains hospitalized, Stollsteimer said.
The fire on the 600 block of Sharon Avenue in Darby Township was the culmination of a troubling few hours that followed Drasher’s sister breaking up with Clark, the DA said.
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After the breakup on Dec. 3, Clark – who resides in Philadelphia – assaulted his former partner and continually sent her threatening text messages, Stollsteimer said. He continued sending messages even after the fire, having snuck an Apple Watch in his rectum after being taken in to jail for questioning, the DA added.
While in custody, he was sending more “terroristic, threatening messages to (Drasher’s sister), just to further terrorize her after having killed her sister and attempting to wipe out her entire family,” Stollsteimer said. When police officers were alerted about the messages and tried to figure out what was going on, Clark assaulted them too, according to Stollsteimer.
A call came in about the fire around 12:15 a.m. Sunday. Officers arrived at the scene to find the front porch of the house filled with “intense fire that quickly spread to the second floor,” Stollsteimer said, noting that Drasher’s room was at the front of the house by the porch.
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The three people who managed to escape the flames told officers Drasher was inside and unable to move, prompting the officers to try and rescue her, only to be beaten back by the “intense smoke and fire,” according to the DA. When firefighters arrived, they too were unable to go inside and rescue Drasher.
“She was in this house, unable to move, unable to communicate as her body is being fried and as she’s choking to death because of the smoke, all because Mr. Clark was angry about her older sister breaking up with him,” Stollsteimer said.
The DA said events turned violent and tragic quickly after the Dec. 3 breakup.
Drasher’s sister reported the assault and threatening texts to police and to the U.S. Postal Service, where both she and Clark worked. The USPS acted quickly and changed the woman’s schedule to ensure she and Clark weren’t working the same shift, and the agency also worked quickly after the fire to provide investigators with evidence against Clark, Stollsteimer said.
Because Clark knew his ex’s family, investigators are certain he knew her sister would not be able to escape a fire, the district attorney noted. Additionally, investigators have evidence that Clark was at the home when the blaze started and that he threw accelerant on the porch, and in one of the threatening messages, he even gloated to Drasher’s sister that there was going to be “a big show,” according to the DA.
Stollsteimer underscored that the case is an example of domestic violence, and he encouraged victims of domestic abuse to report it to authorities.
Clark is charged with multiple counts of murder, attempted murder, assault and making terroristic threats. Online court records did not list an attorney who could comment on his behalf.
Prosecutors will work to ensure Clark “will never see the light of day again,” Stollsteimer said.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline by calling 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), visiting www.thehotline.org or texting LOVEIS to 22522.
