Mr. Collins was smoking methamphetamine in his home / auto-repair shack with his girlfriend late one evening.  He dropped his pipe, and unexpectedly the interior of his shack exploded in flames.  His shack was destroyed in the ensuing fire, and his girlfriend was severely burned.  Several months after Mr. Johnson’s girlfriend was released from the hospital, she died from medical complications related to her injuries and self-destructive lifestyle.  Mr. Collins was charged with first-degree murder under a California law that defined causing a death of anyone while in the commission of a felony as such.  The alleged felony in this matter was the production of methamphetamine.

We performed a detailed investigation and analysis that determined the deflagration and ensuing fire were caused by Mr. Collins’ pipe igniting a pool of gas vapors near the floor of his shack.  These vapors were from a leaking gas can in his chemical storage cabinet.  The chemicals in this cabinet were used in the cleaning & repair of automobile engines.  Even though these chemicals could also be used in the production of methamphetamine, and even though Mr. Johnson’s car contained equipment used in and residue from the production of methamphetamine, there was no evidence of production at the time of the deflagration and fire.  The murder charges against Mr. Collins were dropped.