ARAPAHOE COUNTY — A spectacular fire that destroyed a multimillion-dollar Greenwood Village mansion is suspected to be arson, according to court documents.
The Nov. 6 blaze at 5301 S. University Blvd. lit up the dark, early-morning sky, and firefighters were inside the empty building when portions of it started collapsing around them.
The house was unoccupied and no one was injured.
Fire, police and other arson investigators have been poring over evidence and circumstances surrounding the suspicious blaze for months.
Firefighters with the South Metro Fire Rescue Authority found an “unburned red plastic 5-gallon gas can full of a liquid, which smelled as if it were gasoline, in the great room in the lower level,” according to a search warrant affidavit.
Arson investigators found that a lock on a gas meter had been cut, and gas to the home was turned back on after it had been shut off, the affidavit showed.
An investigator with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives discovered that a “natural gas coupling to the boiler had been disconnected from the main natural gas supply line.”
At the time of the fire, the home was for sale on a realty website, with an $8.2 million asking price. According to the listing, the home was more than 15,000 square feet, with six bedrooms, nine bathrooms and a 1.8-acre lot.
The home is owned by Denver Haslam, 29, of Denver.
The Denver Post and other media outlets covered him extensively after he survived a horrific ski crash at Arapahoe Basin in February 2003.
After the November fire, investigators interviewed Haslam; homebuilder Mikel Mewbourn; a prospective buyer/investor, Nole Lane; and a project manager for Lane, Caleb Costin.
None of those men could be reached for comment Wednesday.
According to the affidavit, they all told investigators the last time anyone was known to be in the home was Nov. 3, three days before the fire. They also told investigators none of them saw the red gas can later found in the house.
Andy Lyon, a spokesman with the South Metro Fire, said he was not aware of any arrest in connection with the case.
Greenwood Village police, who are also involved in the investigation, did not return calls Wednesday.
According to property records and court documents, Mewbourn purchased the property in July 2005 for $1.3 million. The builder demolished two existing homes and built the mansion, selling it to Haslam, a friend, in February 2007 for $6.3 million.
“Haslam was attempting to sell the house to Lane,” the affidavit said. But Lane was unable to close, in part, because of a lien placed by Peter Brody, a former partner of Mewbourn’s.
In January 2008, Brody filed a civil suit against Mewbourn and Haslam. He claimed Mewbourn reneged on a agreement that would have made Brody a 50 percent partner in the property for investing $105,000 in it in March 2005.
A trial in that suit is scheduled for May.
Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com
