The death of a 54-year-old woman Tuesday has been ruled a homicide resulting from an arson fire Sunday evening at her East Topeka home, police said Wednesday.
Police were investigating but had made no arrests in the death of Barbara Lee, who had been found inside her home at 1025 S.E. Locust.
An autopsy revealed she died from exposure to heat and fire gases, said police Lt. Jerry Young.
Topeka firefighters were called at 8:47 p.m. Sunday, which was Halloween, to a very smoky blaze that investigators said had been intentionally set on the front porch of Lee's home.
The fire spread to the attic and significantly damaged the house, according to the fire department. Loss was estimated at $10,700.
As firefighters attacked the blaze, neighbors told a fire department supervisor that Lee was usually away from home Sunday evenings attending church services.
But firefighters entered the burning house and found Lee lying inside near the back door. An American Medical Response ambulance was called at 9:06 p.m.
In addition to the injuries that killed her, a fire department official said Lee sustained a head injury from an apparent fall.
Paramedics used cardiopulmonary resuscitation to restore Lee's pulse. She was taken by ambulance to St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center.
Lee was then transported to the University of Kansas Medical Center at Kansas City, Kan., where authorities said she died early Tuesday.
The Topeka Fire Department and Kansas State Fire Marshal's office on Wednesday were assisting Topeka police detectives with the investigation.
Police asked anyone with information about the incident to call detectives at 368-9400 or Detective Gary Robinson at 368-9415.
Since 1979, the house at 1025 S.E. Locust had been the residence of Lee, her mother, Mae Lee, or both, according to Topeka city directory records. Mae Lee died at age 86 in a Topeka nursing home in 1993.
City directory records indicated Barbara Lee was retired and formerly worked for St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center.
Neighbors said Lee most recently had lived with her brother, Jerry Lee, who wasn't home at the time of Sunday's fire. Authorities subsequently interviewed him as part of their investigation into his sister's death.
Lee was Topeka's 11th homicide victim of 1999. The city by this time last year had recorded all 16 homicides it would see in 1998.
Lee became Topeka's fourth homicide victim of October. Three of those cases remain unsolved. October was Topeka's worst month for homicides since the city also recorded four in February 1996.
Warren Hummer
The death of a 54-year-old woman Tuesday has been ruled a homicide resulting from an arson fire Sunday evening at her East Topeka home, police said Wednesday.
Police were investigating but had made no arrests in the death of Barbara Lee, who had been found inside her home at 1025 S.E. Locust.
An autopsy revealed she died from exposure to heat and fire gases, said police Lt. Jerry Young.
Topeka firefighters were called at 8:47 p.m. Sunday, which was Halloween, to a very smoky blaze that investigators said had been intentionally set on the front porch of Lee's home.
The fire spread to the attic and significantly damaged the house, according to the fire department. Loss was estimated at $10,700.
As firefighters attacked the blaze, neighbors told a fire department supervisor that Lee was usually away from home Sunday evenings attending church services.
But firefighters entered the burning house and found Lee lying inside near the back door. An American Medical Response ambulance was called at 9:06 p.m.
In addition to the injuries that killed her, a fire department official said Lee sustained a head injury from an apparent fall.
Paramedics used cardiopulmonary resuscitation to restore Lee's pulse. She was taken by ambulance to St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center.
Lee was then transported to the University of Kansas Medical Center at Kansas City, Kan., where authorities said she died early Tuesday.
The Topeka Fire Department and Kansas State Fire Marshal's office on Wednesday were assisting Topeka police detectives with the investigation.
Police asked anyone with information about the incident to call detectives at 368-9400 or Detective Gary Robinson at 368-9415.
Since 1979, the house at 1025 S.E. Locust had been the residence of Lee, her mother, Mae Lee, or both, according to Topeka city directory records. Mae Lee died at age 86 in a Topeka nursing home in 1993.
City directory records indicated Barbara Lee was retired and formerly worked for St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center.
Neighbors said Lee most recently had lived with her brother, Jerry Lee, who wasn't home at the time of Sunday's fire. Authorities subsequently interviewed him as part of their investigation into his sister's death.
Lee was Topeka's 11th homicide victim of 1999. The city by this time last year had recorded all 16 homicides it would see in 1998.
Lee became Topeka's fourth homicide victim of October. Three of those cases remain unsolved. October was Topeka's worst month for homicides since the city also recorded four in February 1996.