Lackawanna County man gets life in prison for setting fire that killed Buckingham man
A Lackawanna County man will spend the rest of his life in prison for setting a Buckingham home on fire, killing an elderly man in late 2021.
On Tuesday, Christopher George Gillie, 62, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and attempted homicide in connection with a fire that killed 81-year-old Julius Drelick.
Gillie drove two hours from his Dunmore apartment, which he shared with then-girlfriend Lisa King, to Drelick's home in the 5700 block of Private Drive, and set the home ablaze during the early morning hours of Dec. 5, 2021. Phyllis Drelick, King's mother, was able to get out of the house, however Julius Drelick, her stepfather, could not.
The chairlift that Julius Drelick used to get up and down the stairs stopped working when the fire caused the power to go out. He died in the fire.
Phyllis Drelick, 85, died from a stroke in April.
During Gillie's hearing, family members spoke about the Drelicks and the impact they had on their lives.
King and her sister submitted a letter, read by Deputy District Attorney Marc Furber. Phylis Drelick was described as "social and outgoing," and someone who loved to see the world. When her husband died, that all changed.
"Her life, as she knew it, was gone," the letter from her daughters read.
She became angry and hateful, and lost her faith in God, Furber said.
"Her beautiful life was cut short by a selfish, self-centered, unfeeling monster," her daughters said.
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Lynn Fazenbaker, Julius Drelick's daughter, spoke highly of the victim. She remembered how he introduced her to music, taught her to fish, and how he adopted her and her sister when they were younger.
Fazenbaker said she hopes Gillie can do something meaningful with his life in prison.
"May something amazing spring from this tragedy," she said.
Buckingham police said Gillie took King's car keys and keys to the Bucks County home while King was asleep, and set the blaze at the Drelick home between 2 and 3 a.m. Investigators determined there were two fires set at the home, one inside the living room and another in a soil bed alongside the home.
Gillie, who has a history of arson convictions, including one in Bucks County, was arrested in King's vehicle in Dumore hours later. Police said he smelled of alcohol and gasoline. Two antique guns, which investigators said belonged to the Drelicks, were found in the vehicle.
Gillie told presiding Judge Raymond McHugh that he was highly intoxicated that night and does not remember why it happened, but hopes to find out why he did it.
Five Coors Light cans were found near the home after the fire. Four of the five of them tested positive for the presence of Gillie's DNA, according to Furber.
During Gillie's preliminary hearing last year, King testified that discussions of her mother and stepfather's care had put a strain on her relationship with Gillie. Still, other than one incident at a fire pit at her parents' Buckingham home, Gillie had gotten along OK with Phyllis and Julius Drelick.
Gillie offered an apology to the Drelick family.
"I don't know if mere words can up to any kind of apology, but I am truly sorry," he said.
He asked family members to not blame King, that it was not her fault what happened that day.
"It wasn't before and it isn't now," he said.
In sentencing Gillie, Judge McHugh called the crime "horrific," and said it caused immeasurable damage to people who did not do anything wrong to him.
"In one day, one night, you ruined all these lives," he said.
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Life sentence for man who set fatal Buckingham fire
