PORT LUDLOW – A man being held in the Dec. 2, 2004, arson of condominiums at The Resort of Port Ludlow is also under investigation for a December 2002 blaze in a Port Hadlock apartment complex.
Kevin Graesser, 29, formerly of Port Hadlock and Port Townsend, was taken into federal custody last week in Anchorage, Alaska.
He is being held for investigation of arson in a 2004 fire that caused $4 million in damage to the Admiralty I condominiums.
Interviews with Graesser’s wife, Nicole Cotton, and others – conducted by members of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and federal investigators – also link Graesser to a Dec. 30, 2002, fire at Hadlock Apartments, 50 Old Hadlock Road, according to federal court records.
“Cotton was asked if she was aware of any other arsons committed by Graesser. Cotton immediately replied, ‘Hadlock Apartments,'” said a U.S. District Court document written by Special Agent Kirk J. Dennis of the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The Port Hadlock fire remained under investigation on Friday, and Graesser – also known as Keith Preston – had not been charged with that crime.
The 2002 Hadlock Apartments fire destroyed four units and displaced two families, including six children who were younger than 10 years old at the time.
Investigators deemed the fire “suspicious” at the time, according to a Dec. 31, 2002, Peninsula Daily News story, and the cause remained undetermined.
