Son's suicidal plot to set fire to mother makes headlines

Steve Svidro, a 49-year-old who lived downstairs from his mother in Athens, shot himself in the head after surrounding attempting to torch their house on Thursday morning. The spectacular crime is being reported by the Daily Freeman, the Daily Mail, and the AP, all of which are adding their own macabe details to the tragedy, which reportedly began when Svidro's mother tried to evict him.

The Freeman reports that the mother, who has not been named, recently "lost a daughter" as well. She allegedly told sheriff's deputies that her son was a "sharpshooter," and that he surrounded the house with accelerants before leaving to die. The newspaper reports that Svidro's body was found in a chair by a lake on the family property:

Seeley said deputies found Svidro “sitting in a chair, already deceased, from a single gunshot wound to the head.” A .357-magnum revolver was near the body, the sheriff said.

The Daily Mail adds that a cat, along with the mother, were rescued unharmed from the fire, and that another fire was set at a barn on the property.