‘Everybody is going to die today’: Troy man set woman and duplex on fire, girlfriend says

Before a Troy duplex was destroyed by fire Thursday afternoon, a man walked down the street with a can of gasoline and announced that “Everybody is going to die today,” according to his girlfriend.

Courtney Tomlinson, 39, of Troy, described the terrifying events that led to a fire that authorities confirmed is being investigated as a crime. She said it followed months of domestic violence and resulted in the death of her mother, Susanne Tomlinson, 69, also of Troy.

“My boyfriend killed my mom and killed himself,” Courtney Tomlinson said Friday morning, standing outside her own duplex, decorated for the first day of autumn, where the neighborhood disruption began.

On Friday afternoon, Madison County Coroner Steve Nonn’s office confirmed Susanne Tomlinson’s death. Due to the nature of Courtney Tomlinson’s accusations against her boyfriend, and because the man hasn’t been charged with a crime, the BND isn’t publishing his name.

Troy Police Chief Brent Shownes confirmed that officers were dispatched to a domestic disturbance call in the 500 block of Wood Thrush Street about 2:49 p.m. Thursday and noticed the fire burning in a different duplex on the same block across the street.

Courtney Tomlinson lived in the neighborhood of duplexes, northwest of downtown Troy, with her boyfriend and her two children, ages 12 and 9. She said she met the man about two years ago when both were working at the Lotawata Creek restaurant in Fairview Heights.

“I was kicking him out,” Tomlinson said Friday. “He owed me money, and I was getting ready to pack his things (on Thursday). … He zip-tied my hands and put a knife to my throat. I broke out of it. I was fighting him. I don’t know how I’m alive today.”

Tomlinson said her boyfriend threw gasoline on her face. She ran to a neighbor’s house to wash it off and when she came back outside, she saw the man walking toward her mother’s duplex with a can of gasoline.

“He threw gas in my mom’s face,” Tomlinson said. “She couldn’t see. She was screaming for help. He threw her on the floor and said ‘Everybody is going to die today.’ He locked the door, and he was in there with her (when the fire broke out).”

Kevin Manso, Troy’s interim fire chief, said first responders pulled a man from the fire and transported him to a St. Louis area hospital. Tomlinson said her landlord told her that her boyfriend died in the hospital, which authorities haven’t confirmed.

Courtney Tomlinson said her two children weren’t home during the argument with her boyfriend. When their school bus arrived to drop them off in the afternoon, the bus driver kept them on board after seeing first responders dealing with the fire.

About 10 friends and family members gathered Friday outside Tomlinson’s duplex, which had two bikes and a portable basketball hoop in the driveway. They hugged, cried and listened to Tomlinson talk about her mother and events from the day before.

“I’m an ex-military guy, and this is mind-boggling,” said Richard Housen Jr., 56, of Troy, Susanne Tomlinson’s nephew. “I think it’s a case of a boyfriend who snapped. He wanted to hurt the closest person to Courtney and that was her mom. I think it was premeditated.”

Investigators have remained tight-lipped about the case, confirming only the domestic disturbance call and the fact that police alerted the fire department to the blaze. Neither Shownes nor Manso would confirm that the incidents were related.

“We have more questions than answers,” Shownes told a reporter outside Susanne Tomlinson’s duplex on Friday. “As soon as we get more information, we’ll send out another press release. It’s going to be a lengthy investigative process.”

It took firefighters about three hours to extinguish the flames, but they remained on scene “well into the night” as the police investigation got underway, Manso said.

“I heard all the commotion of yelling and screaming (when first responders arrived),” said Jason Burk, 22, a student at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville who lives in the duplex next door. “I came out to offer the police and firefighters a spare key, but they already had the door open. …

“It was warm on the inside (of our duplex), but it didn’t do anything to the house except melt the siding. We’re still trying to wrap our heads around this. I wouldn’t wish this to happen to anybody.”

Crime scene investigators from Troy, the Illinois State Police and Illinois State Fire Marshal’s office were on the scene, according to Manso. Yellow police tape surrounded both Susanne and Courtney Tomlinson’s duplexes on Friday.

The fire destroyed Susanne Tomlinson’s small duplex with white siding and brick trim, as well as her burgundy Nissan Altima SL in the driveway.

On Friday, Courtney Tomlinson removed two bumper stickers from the back of the car, including a peace sign and a dog’s paw with the words, “Who rescued who?” Susanne Tomlinson’s dog, Sydney, died in the fire, according to family and friends.

“Our dogs were the best of friends,” said Emily Trier, 22, an SIUE student who lives next door with Burk. “They did everything together. They were playing 20 minutes before this happened. (Susanne Tomlinson’s dog) was a beautiful pit-lab mix, and she was just the sweetest dog. Sue made sure she was bathed and had on the prettiest collars. …

“We knew (Sue) really well. We took ‘union breaks’ together when I was studying and she was cleaning. We’d sit at her table outside and have coffee and talk. She loved to garden. Her flowers were a huge part of her life. She had a memorial for her dad in her garden. It’s all gone now.”

This story was originally published September 23, 2022 at 3:38 PM.