Robert Scales, 38, (pictured) has been arrested after his wife and three children were killed in a house fire just months after she filed a protection order saying he had threatened to burn down their home with her inside
A Michigan man has been arrested after his wife and three children were killed in a house fire just months after she filed a protection order saying he had threatened to burn down their home with her inside.
Robert Scales, 38, was arrested and charged Thursday with four counts of involuntary manslaughter for the February slayings of his wife Wanedia Scales, 35, and their children Xavier Woldeab, 15, Robert Scales, Jr., 14, and Elijah Scales, 10.
Scales is accused of starting the fire at the home on February 5 while his family were asleep upstairs.
The four victims were dragged from the blaze by emergency responders but Wanedia and Xavier died at the scene, and Robert and Elijah died later in hospital.
The charges come as a chilling application for a personal protection order written by Wanedia just months before their deaths has revealed the mother-of-three was terrified for the safety of her family.
In the document, obtained by WoodTV, she predicted the brutal deaths of her and her children in a house fire, writing that Scales had threatened to burn down their home with her inside and saying she was ‘greatly afraid’ of what he was going to do.
Scales, 38, was arrested and charged Thursday with four counts of involuntary manslaughter for the February slayings of his wife Wanedia Scales, 35, and their children Xavier Woldeab, 15, Robert Scales, Jr., 14, and Elijah Scales, 10 (pictured altogether)
‘Defendant vandalized property and has threaten to burn the house down with me in it,’ Wanedia wrote in the application, dated September 5 2019.
‘He has also threaten me in front of his children that if I try and stop him from damaging the home my face was going to be next. Then he took his pointer finger in front of kids and shoved my face.’
Wanedia told how she was living in fear of her husband because he had ‘stop[ped] taking his prescribed medication’.
‘I am begging you I am scared for my life I don’t know what else to do. I need help please,’ she begged in the harrowing note to a judge.
Scales previously told officers he had been at work at the time of the fire.
However, suspicions were raised over the husband’s involvement when at a vigil for his family in the aftermath of the tragedy he replied ‘no comment’ to reporters asking if he was involved in starting the fire.
He also commented that his family’s death was planned by a higher power.
The charges come as a chilling application for a personal protection order written by Wanedia just months before their deaths has revealed the mother-of-three was terrified for the safety of her family (pictured) and predicted their brutal deaths in a house fire
‘I know God got something else for me,’ he said at the time, reported WoodTV.
The net also closed in on Scales as the alleged history of domestic violence emerged.
Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker announced the charges Thursday, saying there was not enough evidence to bring murder charges against the father.
‘We’re charging him with gross negligence,’ Becker said.
‘We did not charge a homicide because there was no evidence that this was an intentional act… We’re fully aware of the past history.’
He added: ‘We looked into everything, and we could not prove a murder case in this instance.’
‘It has to be based on fact and what the law is… It’s what the law and the facts have shown us, that these are the appropriate charges.’
Suspicions grew over the husband’s involvement when at a vigil for his family in the aftermath of the tragedy (pictured) he replied ‘no comment’ to reporters asking if he was involved in starting the fire
The scene of the crime in February. The victims’ family welcomed news of Scales’ arrest but said the charges for manslaughter do not go far enough
Becker did not provide details on how the fire was started or what evidence had led to the charges.
Early reports suggested the fire began in a trash can behind the property.
The victims’ family welcomed news of Scales’ arrest but said the charges for manslaughter do not go far enough.
‘Me knowing that they got him on some charges is good, but its not good enough,’ a family member, identified as Laverne, told WoodTV.
‘It’s not involuntary. It’s murder … What he threatened to do to her – it played out.’
Scales was booked into the Kent County jail Thursday before being arraigned in the 61st District Court.
Involuntary manslaughter is a felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison in Michigan.