Glen Cowden occasionally opened his home to friends and acquaintances who needed a place to stay.
Neighbor Kathy Lowe said it was always with the intent to help someone."There were times when he allowed people to come over there. I really never thought any of the people who came over were odd," she said. "He made friends easily. He always thought they were his friends."
Neighbors are having a difficult time trying to figure out why one of those "friends" might have turned against the 54-year-old Cowden Monday morning, allegedly dousing him and his home with gasoline and setting them on fire. Cowden died at 1:42 p.m. at the Intermountain Burn Center in Salt Lake City. He suffered third-degree burns over 100 percent of his body, a hospital spokeswoman said.
Police believe an argument about Cowden's guest smoking in the house possibly precipitated the fire.
"The suspect was smoking in the house, and he wasn't supposed to," said Orem detective Sgt. Gerald Nielsen. "He said he did set the fire, but it was an accident."
Police booked Scott Austin Causey, 21, Orem, into the Orem City Jail Monday on suspicion of homicide and aggravated arson based on evidence gathered in the home, Cowden's dying words and an interview with the suspect, Nielsen said. Causey was scheduled to appear Tuesday morning in Orem Circuit Court.
Causey suffered minor burns and a cut hand from diving out a window, police said.
Cowden told neighbors who tried to save his life after he burst from his house on fire and screaming about 8:30 a.m., "They put gas on me." Several people poured water on the burning man and covered him with a wet sheet before paramedics arrived.
"The fire was started with an accelerant, probably gasoline," Nielsen said.
The fast-moving, intensely hot blaze caused windows to pop out of the house. Neighbors reported hearing two explosions and a scream. Damage to the home was estimated at $60,000.
Detectives intend to obtain a search warrant Tuesday to measure the amount of gasoline in the tank of Causey's car, Nielsen said. Investigators used a search warrant Monday to sift through the charred remains of Cowden's house.
"Basically, they're still trying to put everything together," Nielsen said.
Although Cowden had commented in the past that someone was after him, Lowe said, she believes that he didn't mean someone wanted to kill him.
"There's just no way that anyone would want to kill Glen. He's never done anything we know of that would make someone mad," she said.
Lowe and her husband, Steve, were among the few residents in the southeast Orem neighborhood who associated with Cowden. "He was a very private man," she said. Cowden didn't have a telephone in his house, so the Lowes allowed him to give their number out to his friends. Lowe said she has accepted calls for Cowden from as far away as Germany.
"He just had tons of friends all over the world," she said.
Lowe described Cowden as a wanderer. "He was a man who went his own way," she said.
Cowden apparently became wealthy working on the Alaskan pipeline. He currently wasn't employed, Lowe said, leaving him time to visit with Steve Lowe, a contractor, at a nearby job site.
Lowe said Cowden often stopped by saying, "What can I do? How can I help?"