Details emerge in Sparta fire, murder

GRAND RAPIDS TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) - The man accused of setting a Sparta home on fire, killing a woman trapped inside, was charged Tuesday afternoon with three crimes that could send him to prison for the rest of his life.
 
Michael Piranian, 64, was arraigned before Judge Sara Smolenski on charges of felony murder, assault with intent to murder and arson of an occupied dwelling.
 
In a probable cause affidavit obtained by 24 Hour News 8, detectives said Piranian confessed shortly after he was arrested at the scene of the fire.
 
"Piranian made statements to investigators indicating his anger toward his roommates," Kent County Sheriff's Detective Justin DeBoode wrote in the affidavit. "Piranian informed investigators that he had used a cigarette lighter to light a stack of boxes on fire..."
 
Detectives said Piranian admitted to brandishing a 2 1/2 inch pipe and beating a sleeping female victim after the fire was set.
 
Piranian admitted to investigators that it was his intention to kill a female resident of the home and the home's owner, Paul Preston. He also said he planned to "die himself from the smoke of the fire," according to the affidavit.
 
The female resident, who asked not to be identified, said that Preston intervened in the fight after hearing her screams.
 
"I was screaming 'help me, he's beating me,'" the woman said in an interview with 24 Hour News 8 on Monday evening. "I could smell smoke, so I knew the house was on fire."
 
Kori VanHulle, 24, died in the fire. Investigators say she called 911 from the basement of the home as the fire burned the home. Her boyfriend Steven Rish had left the basement after being awakened by the sound of the fight upstairs. He suffered burns as he unsuccessfully attempted to pull VanHulle from the basement.
 
VanHulle may not have been able to use the basement staircase because the boxes Piranian said he set on fire were stored below the staircase, the detective stated.
 
While VanHulle was not mentioned as one of the intended targets, investigators said that Piranian told them that he knew she and Rish were in the basement.
 
"He made no attempt to alert them of the fire," the detective wrote.
 
The first floor of the home collapsed into the basement. After they were able to enter the home once the fire was extinguished, investigators found VanHulle's body.
 
"Her death ruled a Homicide directly related to the fire," the affidavit said.
 
It is not clear why Piranian was angry at roommates in the home, but the female beating victim said that there had been problems over the past couple of months.

She said Piranian had made several threats in the past and that police had been called to the home. She also said that the homeowner was evicting Piranian and that he was to be forced to move less than a month from the day of the fire.
 
In Tuesday's arraignment hearing for Piranian, he told the judge that he moved to the Sparta home three months ago. Prior to that, he said he was involved in "social work" in Maine.