N.S. husband charged with torching home with his wife inside: ‘The fuel went ‘poof’ all around her’

First, she told him she was leaving.

Then he allegedly spread fuel all over their kitchen and lit it on fire.

It was just after 6 p.m. on Aug. 3 when the woman called 911 about her husband, Edward Castle, and what he’d done to their home in Wittenberg, Colchester County.

“Mr. Castle threw gasoline all over their residence’s kitchen and lit it on fire while she was inside,” RCMP Const. Adrian Solarino said in a search warrant application.

After his wife escaped the burning house, she told police her husband, who goes by Eddie, was “agitated” when she’d come home from work that evening at about 5:45 p.m.

“She told Mr. Castle that their relationship was ending,” Solarino said.

They’d lived in the home for about two years.

‘Drinking all day’

“Mr. Castle had been drinking all day,” she told investigators.

“Mr. Castle was upset that she did not bring beer home with her when she returned from work.”

Edward Castle “flipped out … got angry,” she told police.

Her husband asked for her car keys, but she refused to hand them over.

“Mr. Castle grabbed a red jerry can full of fuel and began dumping the fuel onto the kitchen floor,” the constable said in information to obtain a warrant filed at Truro provincial court.

“She did not think Mr. Castle would light the fuel.”

Begged him to stop

She begged her husband not to do it.

“If you think I won’t f—ing do it, you’re wrong,” he told her.

She told police he lit a match and threw it.

“The fuel went ‘poof’ all around her, and she ran out of the residence,” Solarino said.

She was able to get out of the building unscathed, but she reported at first that her husband was still inside and refusing to come out.

When Mounties arrived at the scene about 30 km south of Truro, Edward Castle was gone and the house was engulfed in flames, said the investigator.

“Mr. Castle had fled the residence on foot, dressed in all black clothing,” Solarino said.

Can ‘get wacky’ when he drinks 

His wife was not injured, said the investigator.

“Mr. Castle has never ‘physically’ harmed her,” she told police.

“Mr. Castle had been drinking since the previous morning; Mr. Castle can ‘get wacky’ when he drinks.”

Mounties found him on Wittenberg Road at 6:31 p.m. about 1.5 km from the fire scene. Dressed in black with grey hair and a long beard, he matched the description his wife gave investigators.

When a Mountie picked him up, Castle said he’d been walking down the road looking for police.

“Mr. Castle was arrested for arson with disregard for human life,” Solarino said.

‘Obviously impaired’

The officer handcuffed Castle and read him his rights, noting the man’s eyes appeared to be bloodshot and his speech was slurred.

He was “obviously impaired” by alcohol, the investigator said.

“When asked if he had been drinking, Mr. Castle replied ‘I drink every day.’”

His mother owned the home that burned.

“The residence was not covered by any insurance, resulting in the total loss of the property,” Solarino said.

Hands swabbed 

Mounties – who could smell some sort of petroleum product coming off Edward Castle – swabbed the 46-year-old man’s hands for accelerants and sent those off to a lab for analysis.

Edward Castle’s knuckles appeared to be swollen, Solarino said.

“Mr. Castle had what appeared to be a fresh burn on his left wrist, with black charring and blood present.”

Firefighters at the scene said the blaze began in the kitchen, at the northeast corner of the house, said Solarino, noting that’s where “the brunt of the damage” was concentrated.

Forensic officers collected samples of fire debris from the scene for lab analysis, said the constable.

Loaded rifle 

They also found a “loaded and unsecured” rifle inside the home.

The day after the fire, Edward Castle was transferred to the Northeast Nova Scotia Correctional Facility in New Glasgow.

“The clothing that Mr. Castle was wearing at the time of his arrest and transfer into custody was not seized by responding RCMP members prior to his transfer,” Solarino said.

Mounties decided they wanted to seize the clothing he’d been wearing on the day of the fire. They planned to test those as well for the presence of fire accelerants.

On Aug. 6, Mounties seized Castle’s boots, belt, jeans, socks, underwear and shirt from the New Glasgow jail. By this point, he was also facing charges of mischief over $5,000 and failing to comply with a probation order.

Criminal record 

“Mr. Castle has a criminal record including convictions for assault, assaulting a peace officer, uttering threats, mischief, impaired driving” and refusing the breathalyzer, Solarino said.

And a judge who gave him a year’s probation in May had ordered him to “keep the peace and be of good behaviour,” said the constable.

Edward Castle had burned down another nearby home before, according to his brother, Andrew.

He’d been charged with arson Dec. 23, 2022, as well as assaulting a peace officer. He was convicted of the assault, but court records show the arson charge was withdrawn this past May.

‘Getting worse’

Andrew Castle told police after the second fire that his brother and his wife “seemed to get along but (she) advised him tonight that within the last few months things have been getting worse,” according to another search warrant application from the Wittenberg fire investigation.

The officer behind that warrant wanted to search the burned Wittenberg home and any outbuildings on the property, including one that appeared to be housing pigs. Police were looking for containers that could hold flammable liquid, as well as fire debris and accelerants.

Investigators seized glass and soil from the burned home during an Aug. 9 search. They also seized a Winchester rifle and .22 calibre ammunition for the firearm.

Edward Kenneth Castle is slated to appear in Truro provincial court Nov. 8 for election and/or plea on charges including arson, mischief, breaching probation, and unauthorized possession of a firearm. The offence date for all of those charges is Aug. 3.

Released from custody

Castle was released from custody Aug. 30 under a judge’s orders to stay away from booze and drugs. He’s also not supposed to have any weapons or accelerants in his possession, and “make arrangements to obtain the earliest available appointment to begin mental health assessment and counselling,” according to court records.

The judge also ordered Castle to “make arrangements to obtain the earliest admission to a residential alcohol counselling program.”