Op-Ed: Devastating Murder Case Now Looks Awfully Shaky

A South Boston fire that killed two young sisters in 2008 sent their mother's girlfriend to prison; the Boston Globe now asks whether the system got it wrong. In a new opinion piece, reporter David Scharfenberg revisits the case of Nicole Chuminski, convicted in 2010 of second-degree murder and arson for the blaze that tore through 154 West Sixth Street. Prosecutors said Chuminski torched the home in a rage after a fight over a stolen wallet. The jury heard that she was outside the house screaming and that traces of acetone tied her and the fire scene together.

Sixteen years later, almost every pillar of that narrative is under strain. Affidavits gathered by the New England Innocence Project suggest the children's mother, key witness Anna Reisopoulos, wasn't actually home when the fire started, as she claimed on the witness stand. A once-close friend said she was actually down the street, matching another account of Reisopoulos calling a man to ask where she could buy drugs. Fire science and lab experts also question the arson finding itself, calling the origin analysis outdated and noting that acetone can be found in human sweat, clothing, and wood products. For a full look at the case, including jailhouse testimony clouding any claim of clear-cut innocence, read Scharfenberg's full investigation in the Globe.