The Nation - News from Sept. 19, 1989

A landlord whose White Plains, N.Y., boardinghouse was gutted by a fire that killed eight people was convicted of criminally negligent homicide because the building failed to meet safety standards. State Supreme Court Justice Nicholas Colabella convicted Frank Thomas, 67, of New Rochelle of two counts but acquitted him of five additional counts. He had dismissed an eighth count earlier. Colabella’s verdict came after a two-week, non-jury trial in New York state’s trial-level court. A fire door was missing in the boardinghouse, and the front door was secured by a double dead-bolt lock, which required a key from the inside to open. Thomas was convicted on the two counts in the deaths of Abraham Wilson, 52, and Allen Piroleau, 61, whose bodies were found by the door they could not open. The Jan. 15 blaze began in the basement of the building through a resident’s careless smoking.