Austin man set car on fire to avoid high payments, authorities allege

Authorities believe an Austin man tried to set his car on fire to avoid "the exorbitant monthly payment on his vehicle," according to court documents filed last week.

Emmanuel Gonell, 42, is charged with arson, a second-degree felony, in connection with a vehicle fire in which Gonell's BMW M3 burned in a parking lot at the intersection of Fifth and Red River streets in downtown Austin back on April 6. Gonell, who has denied to investigators setting his car on fire, was not in Travis County Jail on Saturday.

Austin Fire Department crews that put out the fire in the trunk found matches and paper stuffed into the battery compartment, according to an arrest affidavit filed against Gonell. Fire investigators also found a plastic bottle holding a liquid they said smelled like paint thinner, and "light bulbs hot-wired to the battery and grounded to the vehicle frame," the affidavit said.

But investigators also discovered that Gonell had filed about 28 insurance claims since 2004, and that "three were vehicle fires involving high-end sports or luxury cars owned or leased" by him, according to the affidavit. Gonell, investigators learned, was paying about $1,699 a month on the BMW.

In a voluntary interview with investigators, Gonell said "the device must have been placed by someone that wanted to set him up or, in his words, kill him," the affidavit said. But investigators pointed out to Gonell that someone would have needed unrestricted access to his car to set up the device in the trunk.

He said "someone must have broken into his house and set the device," according to the affidavit. But if someone wanted to hurt Gonell, investigators told him, they "could have done so when they broke into his house and would have no need to set an elaborate incendiary device.

The affidavit also notes that when Gonell's insurance company told him his fire claim was being investigated by them, too, Gonell withdrew his claim, saying he would pay for the damage, estimated to be worth more than $20,000.

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