After a quick review, the state fire marshal came up empty-handed on an arson charge in the 2008 Haley’s Motel fire —a blaze that burned into the night sky Nov. 16, 2008, less than two weeks after co-owner Sabine Musil-Buehler went missing.
The initial state fire marshal investigation into the blaze, which destroyed the duplex at 8102 Gulf Drive, Holmes Beach, ended with no further leads in 2011 and a report by Detective Jack Shireman, of the Florida Department of Financial Services fire marshal division, released in 2013.
The report identified William J. Cumber III as the only “person of interest/suspect” in a deliberately set fire, but the conclusion was that no arrest could be made due to a lack of probable cause.
Detective Shane Gaghan took another look at the case after Cumber’s Oct. 15 confession to the murder of Musil-Buehler, his girlfriend, according to state fire marshal Capt. Tammy White.
“It looks like we have no viable connection” between a suspect and the arson, White said Nov. 12.
Due to an expired four-year statute of limitations, she said the office “must reclose the case.”
Musil-Buehler and her estranged husband, Tom Buehler, owned and operated the motel and adjoining duplex 2000-2008.
Cumber worked off and on for Haley’s in 2005 and 2008, performing maintenance work. Cumber and Musil-Buehler began living together in an Anna Maria apartment in fall 2008.
As part of the state fire marshal review, White said the office contacted the prosecutor in Cumber’s murder case, but did not include any new interviews of Cumber or Buehler.
Cumber entered a plea agreement two weeks before his murder trial was set to begin in November. Cumber faced a possible life sentence if he’d gone to trial.
As part of the agreement, Cumber confessed to the murder and led Manatee County Sheriff’s Office deputies to where he’d buried Musil-Buehler’s remains — about a block from Haley’s Motel.
Twelfth Circuit Judge Diana L. Moreland sentenced Cumber to 20 years in the Florida Department of Corrections, with credit for time served.
On Nov. 10, Cumber was transported to Orlando to await a transfer to another facility.
According to prison authorities, with possible gain time for good behavior, Cumber could be eligible for parole in 2029.