Cause of Tamworth fire last September still under investigation

By Jacqueline Pottle

The cause of a blaze that destroyed a century-old home off Loring Road last September is still under investigation. Samples from the scene were tested for the presence of ignitable fluids, according to Det. John Southwell of the state fire marshal's office, but due to the nature of the ongoing investigation, those results cannot be divulged to the public. The home had belonged to Sheryl Mathews, whose son-in-law, Jacques Charles Clermont, allegedly attacked her earlier that day in Maine while dropping off her four-year-old granddaughter at daycare. Clermont is being sought by Auburn police on several charges connected with that incident, but, according to Southwell, he has not been linked to the Tamworth fire.Det. Mitchell Sweetser of Auburn Police Department said Wednesday he is still searching for Clermont, whom he believes is currently living in Guadalajara, Mexico. He said he meets with members of the Mathews family weekly to discuss the case.Clermont, 50, is a Canadian citizen and at the time he allegedly attacked Mathews, had lived most recently in Guadalajara, according to Mathews.Sweetser said he applied to the Maine district attorney's office for a warrant that would have caused Clermont to be extradited from Mexico, however it was denied. He says he does not know the reason.As he did last September, Sweetser still contends Clermont is responsible for both the attack in Maine on his mother-in-law, as well as the fire later that day that ultimately destroyed her home.Mathews was dropping her granddaughter off at daycare when a man in a ski mask attacked them both. She recognized the man's eyes as her daughter's estranged husband, police said at the time. She wrapped her arms and legs around the child and fell to the ground as the man sprayed them with mace, punching her in the head before someone came to help. The man escaped in a white Pontiac Grand Am with out-of-state license plates.The family called police to tell them they thought a house they own in N.H. might be in jeopardy and no more than three hours later, it was fully engulfed in flames.In November, Clermont sent an e-mail to the media and police departments maintaining his innocence, and explaining that he was in Guadalajara the day of the incidents. He offered his theory that the Mathews staged the scenarios to try and nullify kidnapping charges against them.In a recent e-mail to The Conway Daily Sun, Clermont's estranged wife Kristy claims she has a sworn statement her husband was in Texas three days after the fire with a burn down his leg; she also claims an eyewitness saw the same white car seen at the attempted abduction in Maine parked on Loring Road the morning of the fire.Mathews also says in the e-mail that she has been getting the "run around" from numerous departments in N.H., including the fire marshal's office, due to budget cuts. Southwell denies those allegations.