A Queensland man is facing extradition to New South Wales over the alleged murder of a Sydney teenager in a deliberately lit house fire almost 25 years ago.
Arthur Haines, 13, was sleeping at a friend’s house at Waterloo on April 9, 1998, when the house became engulfed in flames.
The teenager was trapped on the top floor and had suffered severe burns by the time he managed to escape.
Several other people in the house escaped without injury.
Arthur was taken to Westmead Children’s Hospital with burns to 60 per cent of his body and died 11 weeks later.
Forensic investigations revealed the fire was deliberately lit.
NSW detectives were granted an arrest warrant for a 55-year-old man who was believed to be living interstate, and yesterday that man was arrested at a home in Brisbane by Queensland Police.
Homicide detectives have travelled to Queensland where they will apply for the man to be extradited to NSW and charged over the fatal fire.
The NSW government offered a $100,000 reward for information into Arthur’s death in 2000 and increased the reward to $1 million in June 2020.
No-one has ever been charged and the matter has remained unsolved despite numerous appeals by Arthur’s mother Julie Szabo and NSW Police.
In a 2013 appeal, Ms Szabo said her son's death still caused her pain.
"Fifteen years have passed since we lost Arthur but our hearts still ache for him," she said.
"We are desperate for answers and hope someone might provide police the information they need to catch those who took Arthur from us."
