House fire leaves one dead

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, August 1, 2007

GREENSBORO &8212; Amanda Elliot, 81, died in a fire early Monday morning at her home at 1309 Evans St. Delois Orcholoski, a niece of Elliot&8217;s, was at the home at the time and was able to escape. Elliot, however, was not able to exit the house and died at the scene.

Greensboro Police Department and Greensboro Volunteer Fire Department responded to the call at approximately 3:30 a.m. After arriving at the scene, Orcholoski had been able to get out, but they were unable to recover Elliot.

At the request of Greensboro Police Chief Claude Hamilton, the state fire marshal was called in to investigate the case. With the fire marshal&8217;s help, police were able to take a suspect into custody Monday.

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Tuesday morning, Samuel Lee Jackson was charged with capital murder and arson in the first degree. He is currently awaiting trial that the Hail County Detention Center.

Hamilton said that through Jackson&8217;s own confession of involvement with the fire and physical evidence at the scene, they were able to obtain a warrant for his arrest and take him into custody.

According to Hamilton, Jackson knew Elliot personally and had come by Sunday night and tried to steal some money from her.

Hamilton also said that they were fortunate to have the fire marshals come so quickly.