Man accused of killing niece, nephew in Fresno house fire says he was 'teleported'

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A double murder trial resumed at the Fresno County Courthouse on Tuesday with new evidence about a tragic house fire that left two babies dead.

"The front of the house, the doors, and the windows were filled with black soot from the house fire," Fresno Police Department Sgt. Benjamin Barnes said. "The inside was totally dramatic."

Prosecutors say Filimon Hurtado set fire to the family home in west central Fresno in May of 2022. It killed his 1-year-old niece and 5-month-old nephew, and also injured their mother.

Action News cannot show Hurtado, but he has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder and arson.

The jury heard from a doctor on Tuesday who treated Hurtado for depression and mania just two years before the deadly fire.

"You indicated he appeared depressed," public defender Roy Park asked. "Yes," Dr. Joseph Alimasuya said.

"He appeared unhappy?" "Correct," the doctor answered.

"Glum?" "Yes." "Downcast?" "Yes," the doctor said.

Hurtado's public defenders say he was insane and off his meds for bipolar disorder when he set the fire.

In a video played by prosecutors, the jury heard from Hurtado himself in a monologue he uploaded the day before the fire.

"Sometime during my investigation on that day, I was aware that Filimon Hurtado had made a YouTube video," Sgt. Barnes said.

Action News cannot show the video, but for several minutes, Hurtado describes being abducted, cloned, and teleported. "They're coming for everybody," he said in the YouTube video.

Then, in a different video recorded by police after the fire, Hurtado admits to pouring gasoline on a couch and carpet and lighting it. From his hospital bed, he told investigators, "People need to take a stand. We end up martyrs."

Jurors are set to hear several more days of evidence.

If convicted, Hurtado could face up to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

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