McMinn County Sheriff Joe GuyHOW TO HELPAnyone with information about the fire is urged to call the state arson hotline at 800-762-3017 or the McMinn County Sheriff’s Office at 423-745-5622 for either investigation.
A suspicious fire Monday at Striker’s Premium Winery that started just a few feet from where owner Patty Moses Striker was shot dead 12 years ago is being investigated by state and McMinn County authorities, officials said.
Sheriff Joe Guy said Friday that investigators so far have found no evidence linking the Feb. 20 fire to the 2000 slaying.
In a “basic investigation,” Guy said the fire started outside on the front of the building, and it appears an accelerant was used. He said the winery doesn’t have surveillance equipment.
Athens Rural Fire Department firefighters had put the fire out by the time he and deputies were called, he said.
“We understand that there’s no insurance on the building,” Guy said. “It’s just very suspicious.”
The case has been turned over to state arson investigators, he said.
Athens Rural Fire Department Chief Harold Eaton said Friday that the blaze destroyed about two-thirds of the building’s interior.
Firefighters “kept it from going through the roof,” Eaton said of the initial battle with the flames. “It started outside on the front, burned up through into the eaves and the attic itself.”
Guy said the fire investigation rouses memories of the slaying case, even though there is no connection. He said he hopes the attention to the winery rouses interest in the Moses Striker case.
Moses Striker’s body was found inside the business the morning of April 10, 2000, by an employee arriving for work. Investigators canvassed the area and probed hundreds of feet of the creek in front of the winery for a missing cash register and the murder weapon. Neither was ever found, and the case remains unsolved.
“[The fire] is another opportunity to talk about it a little bit,” Guy said of the slaying. “From time to time we get leads and follow them up.”