Man charged with murder after woman dies in Troy, Ill. fire

TROY, Ill. (KMOV) – A man’s been charged with murder for a fire that killed a 69-year-old in Troy, Illinois Thursday.

Madison County Coroner Steve Nonn reported that officers with the Troy Police Department were called to the 500 block of Wood Thrush Street for a domestic disturbance around 2:20 p.m. When they arrived, officers found a fire inside the home.

Multiple fire departments were called to the area to help extinguish the flames. Over two hours after officers were first called to the scene, a woman’s body was found inside the home. The woman has been identified as 69-year-old Susanne E. Tomlinson. An autopsy revealed she died of smoke inhalation.

On Tuesday, prosecutors charged Michael Sloan with three counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted murder, aggravated arson and aggravated unlawful restraint.

According to court documents, Sloan threatened to kill Tomlinson’s daughter, who he lived with at Wood Thrush. He ordered her to bind herself with zip-ties on her wrists and then he covered her with gasoline and held a knife to her throat saying he was going to kill her.

The court expects the evidence to show the daughter managed to free herself and went to a neighbor’s home and that’s when Sloan went inside Tomlinson’s house with gasoline and a large fire then erupted.

Sloan was pulled out of the house and taken to a hospital.

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