Paint in Jeep is unrelated to frat fire, ATO member says

A former Alpha Tau Omega fraternity member denied published reports Tuesday linking paint found on the floor of the now-charred ATO fraternity house to that inside a Jeep driven by one of his roommates.

The house at North Cherry Avenue and East Second Street was all-but destroyed in a July 12 arson-related blaze. It had been set to be sold to another UA fraternity within the week.

"That paint has been there since a week-and-a-half before the end of the semester," said Christopher C. Eddy, 19, a former ATO member who lives in the 0 block of East Adams Street.

Two ATO couches and the front door of the now-charred frat house were found last week at the East Adams Street residence shared by Eddy, Brian D. Ross, 22, and Russell Williams, 22. All are former ATO members.

The University of Arizona chapter of Alpha Tau Omega had its national charter revoked and was evicted in May from the house at 1050 N. Cherry Ave.

The Arizona Daily Star reported Tuesday that police records revealed white paint was spattered on the charred house's floor hours before the fire - and that it resembled paint found on the inside door of a jeep used by Ross.

"There is white paint all over that house, in the chapter room, in the courtyard, in the kitchen, everywhere," Eddy said. "I don't know about any white paint in the Cherokee, except that it's been in about four accidents in the last two months."

University police are not calling the three former ATO members suspects, instead referring to them as "investigative leads." Eddy, however, said he has been made to feel like a suspect.

"They've called me in for questioning several times," he said. "I didn't do anything and I have nothing more to tell them."

Eddy, who was arrested last week on a warrant stemming from an earlier drug and drug paraphernalia citation, said the two couches found at the East Adams street home were not stolen as earlier reported.

"The couches they confiscated were not stolen from the house," he said. "We took them out of the Dumpster."

Chief Harry Hueston of the University of Arizona Police Department said the investigation should be resolved soon.

"We expect to have it wrapped up in about two weeks," he said, adding the widening investigation has been an ordeal for university police.

"This is really taking an incredible amount of manpower," Hueston said. "We've questioned a lot of people."

Members of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity were set to buy the $850,000 house last week and move in this fall. The City of Tucson, however, condemned the fire-ravaged house and its fate remains unresolved, said UA Greek Life Coordinator Bob Gordon.

"That's a delicate insurance question," Gordon said. "Technically, ATO still has ownership of that house."