Breakup With Girlfriend Set Off Alleged Arson at Raymond Self-Storage in Raymond, NH

Update 6/22/16 – The suspected arsonist accused of setting fire to Raymond Self Storage has been indicted on three new charges since he’s been in custody. Gregory Bruno allegedly wrote a letter in April to former cellmate James Banks asking him to start a fire at the home of Bruno’s ex-girlfriend’s parents’ house and spray paint a message on their driveway. Two charges have been filed in connection to the letter request. A third charge accuses Bruno of asking a family member to destroy a letter he wrote, according to the source.

Bruno is already facing charges of 23 counts of arson, attempted arson and cruelty to animals in connection to suspicious fires set in Epping, Raymond and Stratham, N.H.

The new indictments didn’t provide any details about the letter’s contents or the message Bruno allegedly wanted painted on the driveway.

9/30/15 – A breakup with his girlfriend led a man to allegedly set nine fires that killed four dogs and caused thousands of dollars of property damage, including one at Raymond Self Storage, in Raymond, N.H. Gregory Bruno, 27, was denied bail this week after Rockingham County Superior Court Judge Andrew Schulman heard details about the case that raised “very significant concerns for public safety,” according to one source.

Bruno was arrested on May 4 and charged with three felony counts of arson, burglary and cruelty to animals, and nine misdemeanor charges of arson, attempted arson and attempted false public alarm, one source reported. His bail was raised from $50,000 to $750,000 cash.

The March 24 fire at Raymond Self-Storage began in one unit before quickly spreading to others, a source reported. Eight units were destroyed and several others suffered smoke damage. The indictments show Bruno filed a fraudulent insurance claim for property he had stored in a unit destroyed in the blaze.

The other fires, which occurred between Jan. 12 and April 4, included six small blazes in the neighborhood around Bruno’s home. The first occurred at his ex-girlfriend’s home at 103 Green Road and killed the family’s three dogs. The animals, two Dachshunds and a black Labrador Retriever, were inside crates on the porch and died of smoke inhalation. No one was home at the time.

Earlier on Jan. 12, police and fire personnel responded to Bruno’s home at 17 Green Road to investigate a fire inside a Dodge pickup truck, owned by Bruno’s father. Other fires included one set to a Toyota Camry parked at a Planet Fitness in Stratham, N.H., which killed a Boston Terrier inside the vehicle. Police didn’t find a connection between Bruno and the car’s owner.

A March 28 fire was set at the home of an acquaintance of Bruno in Epping, N.H. Investigators found a key to the self-storage business inside the home. It may have been left behind to suggest someone else was setting the fires, according to Howard Helrich, assistant county attorney. The indictment also said Bruno fed a razor blade to his family’s Beagle, Frannie.

According to police, Bruno showed a pattern of terrorizing his ex-girlfriend, and the two were involved in a “domestic-violence relationship.” The ex-girlfriend and her family were allegedly bombarded with anonymous, threatening text messages, prosecutors said in court. The woman told police she found intimate photos of herself on Bruno’s Instagram page on Oct. 22. Around the same time, she and her mother began receiving the threatening texts. Police were able to trace the texts and other threatening messages to Bruno’s computer, Helrich said. Additional forensic evidence and video-surveillance footage link Bruno to the fires, he added. Through his public defender, Tara Witt, Bruno denies being involved in the fires or sending any threatening messages. Witt claims her client also received threatening texts.

Bruno was arrested on separate charges while being held at Rockingham County jail. Police say he allegedly stole a cellphone from a corrections officer on Aug. 30. He then disguised his voice as a woman and called 911 to report a fire at his family’s home, prosecutors said. The phone was later found in a toilet in Bruno’s cell.