Dome Valley shooting and house explosion was plan to kill or injure sheriff deputies

UPDATED - The couple whose remains were found at the scene of a home explosion in Dome Valley last month had planned to commit suicide after luring as many sheriff’s deputies as they could to their residence and shooting them, according to the Yuma County Sheriff’s Office.

The couple had also planned to wait for the Sheriff’s Office Special Response Team (SRT) to arrive and take them out as well by intentionally blowing up the residence as team members entered their home, according to spokesman Capt. Eben Bratcher.

“The motive behind their plan is not known, but it was clear they fully intended to murder as many deputies as possible prior to taking their own lives,” Bratcher said. “These people absolutely had a plan, and I think they wanted to die and make as big of a scene as they could possibly make.”

The Pima County Medical Examiner’s Office, which performed a forensic autopsy on the remains, has positively identified the couple as Jesse Lee Firestone, 65, and his wife Diedre Firestone, 45. The cause of death was listed as suicide from intentional blast and from thermal injuries.

Bratcher said investigators also found elaborate plans, both in writing and in video, that had been left in a blast-protected area inside the residence and detailed what the couple intended to do. In one of the videos (which are available for viewing to the right of this artile), the Firestones are seen sitting on the balcony of their home, calmly discussing what was about to happen while waiting for deputies to respond.

“This could have ended up horribly, and we are grateful none of our guys were seriously injured,” Bratcher said. “It was one of those things you wouldn’t have ever expected to happen in Yuma. It is insane. You read about this type of thing in the paper happening somewhere else.”

In another video, Jesse Firestone is seen standing inside his home using a cell phone to call 911 to report that he had just mercifully shot his wife, which was how they planned to lure deputies to their Bat Mountain Ranch residence.

“I got to go kill my dogs now,” Jesse Firestone is seen saying before he hangs up the phone.

According to that video, Diedre Firestone had been suffering from “self-diagnosed” breast cancer for the past 10 months, but refusing to get treatment.

In one of the eeriest videos, Jesse Firestone is seen videotaping the .357 magnum rifle he planned to use and even shows the hole in the front door of the home he was going to fire from. He even mentions some sheriff deputies by name saying, “it’s nothing personal, anyway — adios.”

Jesse Firestone is also heard telling his wife that he was “ready and at peace with it,” in a video. The couple had also built a shrine they called the “Church of Death,” which featured a bible, two binders with hand-made covers entitled the “Firestone Gospel,” and a picture of Osama Bin Laden.

What is not known at this point, Bratcher said, and may not ever be known, is if the explosion actually happened prematurely by accident or if the Firestones changed their minds and decided not to go through with their plans.

On Dec. 23, Wellton police and sheriff deputies responded to a report of a murder at about 1:30 p.m. at the 22300 block of East County 8th Street. According to YCSO, a man called the agency and said he had just shot his ill wife at that location. He then hung up the phone.

When deputies and police arrived at the scene, a man allegedly shot at them from inside the residence, striking a law enforcement vehicle. While the suspect reportedly continued to shoot, a large explosion occurred inside the home, knocking a deputy to the ground.

The YCSO’s SRT escorted firefighters as they approached the home to put out the fire caused by the explosion. While doing so, SRT members found an undetonated improvised explosive device near the residence.

The sheriff’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal team secured the device and searched the remainder of the residence. The team cleared the home’s exterior and determined that no other hazards remained around the building.

However, the team could not immediately enter the house, which was built of brick, concrete and rebar, due to security doors and an interior steel door with steel pins. All windows were also built of heavy steel, which restricted entry.

With help from the Tri-Valley and Wellton fire departments, YCSO investigators finally got inside the home the next afternoon and found the remains of two people and two dead dogs.

Investigators found the main bedroom and living room heavily damaged from the explosion and fire, with the roof caved in. They also located 15 five-gallon propane bottles in the same place as the two individuals. Two propane bottles appear to have bullet holes in them, possibly indicating the explosion was intentional.

The deputy knocked down in the explosion was treated for minor injuries at Yuma Regional Medical Center and released.

James Gilbert can be reached at jgilbert@yumasun.com or 539-6854. Find him on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/YSJamesGilbert or on Twitter @YSJamesGilbert.