Man set fire to woman, 73, in lift ‘because she owed him money’

Deloris Gillespie was riding in the lift to her fifth-floor apartment in Brooklyn, New York, when the attack happened on Saturday.

Surveillance video from inside the lift shows the attacker looking something like an exterminator, with a canister sprayer, white gloves and a dust mask, which was perched on his head.

The sprayer was full of flammable liquid and when the lift doors opened, he sprayed the 73-year-old woman, who turned around and crouched down to try to protect herself, New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne said.

The attacker sprayed Ms Gillespie in the face and continued to drench her “sort of methodically” over her head and parts of her body.

Then he pulled out a barbecue-style lighter and used it to ignite a rag in a bottle. He waited a few seconds as Ms Gillespie huddled on the floor, then backed out of the elevator and tossed the flaming bottle in.

Neighbours in the Prospect Heights building quickly reported a fire but had no idea a woman was being burned alive.

A 47-year-old man stinking of petrol later went into a police station and implicated himself in Ms Gillespie’s death, Mr Browne said.

The suspect, Jerome Isaac, told police he set her on fire because she owed him money.