How Connecticut house of horrors victim risked death with a snap decision to set fire and escape years of captivity

A severely emaciated man weighing just 68 pounds made a snap decision to set his Connecticut home on fire last month — risking death just so he could try and escape the hellish padlocked room he’d been held captive in for more than two decades, cops said.The 32-year-old gave investigators a terrifying play-by-play of how he finally managed to alert authorities to the years-long pattern of alleged torture and abuse when they saved him from his burning Waterbury home back on Feb.

17.Like any other day, the victim alleged he spent the vast majority of his hours deadbolted in his 8 x 9 foot room — eating just two sandwiches and a snack, court documents made public on Wednesday detailed.He was allegedly let out briefly at about 7 p.m.

to try and fix a light bulb in the kitchen but was quickly locked back up again by his stepmom, Kimberly Sullivan, when he failed.The victim told cops it was “same old, same old” when he heard Sullivan close her bedroom door at about 8 p.m.

It was only then that he made the choice to start the blaze in his cramped space, the complaint charges.He set the fire close to the door using hand sanitizer, paper, a stack of games and a lighter, cops said.The victim told investigators he’d found the lighter stashed in a jacket pocket a year earlier when his father died and he was allowed to keep a few of his clothes.

Aware of the risks, the victim said he knew he’d have to let the flames get to a point where they couldn’t be put out by his stepmom — and she’d be forced to call the fire department, cops said.“Once the fire got going good he started to stomp and yell for help.

[He] stated that Sullivan yelled to him asking what he wanted and he told her ‘fire’,” according to court docs.When she finally unbolted the door, the vic told his stepmom that a radio he was allowed to keep had malfunctioned.“At this point he was out of it and had collapsed at the top of the stairs… Sullivan made him get up and go to the...