{"id":223662,"date":"2026-04-08T17:45:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T17:45:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/223662\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T17:45:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T17:45:19","slug":"florida-man-charged-with-arson-murder-after-allegedly-stabbing-man-who-intervened","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/223662\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida man charged with arson, murder after allegedly stabbing man who intervened"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!\n <\/p>\n

A Florida man<\/a> has been captured after burning down his own home, returning hours later to ignite another blaze and fatally stabbing a man who tried to stop him, authorities said.<\/p>\n

William Michael Larsen, 37, was arrested Tuesday after an hours-long manhunt in the Floral City area, the Citrus County Sheriff’s Office<\/a> said.<\/p>\n

“It was an all-hands-on-deck approach,” Sheriff David Vincent said.<\/p>\n

Deputies first responded to a call about a house fire on along a quiet Floral City street just after midnight Tuesday. The homeowner, identified as Larsen, was not on the scene when deputies arrived but was later found and questioned about the blaze, authorities said.<\/p>\n

IDAHO WOMAN ACCUSED OF ATTEMPTING TO SET FIRE TO DHS BUILDING WITH STOLEN AMBULANCE<\/a><\/p>\n

\"William <\/p>\n

William Michael Larsen, 37, was arrested Tuesday after an hours-long manhunt in the Floral City area, the Citrus County Sheriff\u2019s Office said. (Citrus County Sheriff’s Office)<\/p>\n

Hours later at 6:13 a.m., deputies received a second call reporting that Larsen had returned to the same street and ignited a nearby shed<\/a>, the sheriff’s office said.<\/p>\n

Witnesses reported that another man at the home tried to put out the fire, but Larsen stabbed the man and fled in a white GMC pickup truck.<\/p>\n

\"charred <\/p>\n

Larsen allegedly burned down his own home in Floral City, Florida, before setting off on a violent rampage. (FOX13 Tampa WTVT)<\/p>\n

Investigators said Larsen\u2019s mother owned the home that was initially set on fire, along with the neighboring property where the shed was ignited, FOX13 Tampa<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT IN FLORIDA CHARGED WITH ARSON, FELONY CRIMINAL MISCHIEF, SHERIFF SAYS<\/a><\/p>\n

The stabbing victim<\/a> died at the scene, according to authorities. His identity has not been made public, though family members told the station that he was the long-term boyfriend of Larsen\u2019s mother.<\/p>\n

\"the <\/p>\n

Larsen allegedly returned to the scene of the initial fire and set a shed ablaze on a neighboring property before stabbing a man who tried to extinguish the flames. (FOX13 Tampa WTVT)<\/p>\n

As investigators searched for Larsen, the sheriff\u2019s office said they found his pickup truck abandoned in a wooded area in Inverness, about a 10-minute drive north of Floral City.<\/p>\n

Shortly after the discovery, the sheriff\u2019s office received reports that a man matching Larsen\u2019s description was seen walking in the same neighborhood where the fires and stabbing happened.<\/p>\n

Deputies responded and took Larsen into custody without issue.<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/a><\/p>\n

Larsen is facing multiple felony charges, including arson and first-degree premeditated murder. He may face additional charges as the investigation continues.<\/p>\n

Investigators are still working to determine a motive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! A Florida man has been captured after burning down his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":223663,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[23127,28,30,29,1109,23318,628,8073],"class_list":{"0":"post-223662","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-florida","8":"tag-fires-disasters","9":"tag-florida","10":"tag-florida-headlines","11":"tag-florida-news","12":"tag-homicide","13":"tag-manhunt","14":"tag-us","15":"tag-vandalism"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223662","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223662"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223662\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/223663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=223662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=223662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}