Possible Link Between Suit, Fire Investigated

A 60-year-old Fountain Valley paraplegic who police believe may have been targeted for death by arsonists remained in serious but stable condition Thursday as authorities considered whether the fire was connected to a civil lawsuit involving the victim, George Smyrniotis.

Police said they had summoned Smyrniotis’ San Francisco attorney, Nicholas Reckas, Thursday in an attempt to learn more about the Long Beach court case and possibly determine whether it might be linked to the Wednesday morning blaze that--but for the heroic efforts of local firefighters--might have killed Smyrniotis and destroyed his home.

The connection between the fire and the lawsuit, police believe, may be an anonymous telephone call Smyrniotis received just hours before the fire in which he says he was told, “You are going to fry.”

In the lawsuit, Smyrniotis alleges that his leasehold interest in a business property at 1st Street and Harbor Boulevard in Santa Ana, worth an estimated $400,000, was sold in 1986 without authorization, defendants in the case said.

However, two defendants--one Smyrniotis’ former attorney and the other a Long Beach surgeon and longtime friend of the victim’s family--said Thursday that there was ample authorization for the sale. They are also angry about Smyrniotis’ suggestions that the fire and lawsuit could be linked.

“He has the guts to make us out to be firebugs?” said Dr. Nicholas I. Skandalakis, Smyrniotis’ business partner in the Santa Ana lease. “The guy cannot call honest people arsonists. The house that burned, I put the down payment on it: $14,000. I would never think to burn anybody’s house.”

Theodore J. Batsakis, Smyrniotis’ former attorney and now a defendant in the lawsuit, said that connecting the fire and lawsuit amounted to “slander.”

“As far as I’m concerned, (Smyrniotis) may have burned it down,” Batsakis said. The attorney had represented Smyrniotis in connection with an October, 1984, car accident in San Luis Obispo County that left Smyrniotis paralyzed.

Reckas could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Police Sgt. Darryl Nance said Smyrniotis had received several harassing telephone calls earlier this year and made a report to authorities in October. But Nance said there “had not been anything concrete” that would have possibly tied the earlier phone calls to the lawsuit until Wednesday’s fire and the telephone call received just hours before.

“This is still a fresh investigation; there are a lot of factors. . . ,” Nance said. “We have two situations involved here. We have an arson . . . and we have a civil case involved here. We are well aware of that.”

After Smyrniotis’ rescue, police said, investigators were able to determine that a flammable liquid had been poured near the garage of the 18173 Santa Adela Circle residence, where the fire apparently started.

Authorities said the blaze gutted the garage and spread to the second floor, trapping Smyrniotis in his bed. Firefighters arrived just after Smyrniotis’ wife dialed 911 for help.

One firefighter who helped pull Smyrniotis from his bed was forced to call for the help of three others who later dragged the man down the front stairs and out the front door into an ambulance.