L.A. Arson Suspect's Mother Linked To 'Erotic Massage' Business
The arrest of a 24-year-old man in connection with more than 50 intentionally set vehicle fires in Los Angeles in recent days has revealed that his mother is linked to a Hollywood erotic massage business and faces extradition to Germany.
The arson suspect, Harry Burkhart, stands accused of setting 53 vehicles ablaze in several L.A. communities during the New Year's holiday weekend, causing $3 million in damage. It appears that Burkhart was angered last week during a court hearing for his mother, Dorothee Burkhart, who faces possible extradition relating to 19 charges of fraud in Frankfurt.
One of the charges against her reportedly includes failing to pay for a 2004 breast-augmentation surgery.
The mother and son share the same Hollywood apartment. According to LA Weekly, the address of the apartment is also the one listed for the domain name registration of the Hollywood Tantra Massage website.
The phone number associated with the site's registration is also the number of the massage site and can found on other classified ads listing adult massage services, the newspaper notes.
It reports that the Hollywood Tantra Massage site offers:
"Loving-erotic touch in combination with deep Tissue, incl. G-spot and Hotspots massage. Professional, very sensual, relaxing, erotic-romantic and Happy making. Very DIFFERENT!!! Traditional TANTRA massage techniques, based on DOCTOR's knowledges about the body, spirit, psychology and sexuality of MAN!!!!!"
The Associated Press reported that outside the Burkhart apartment Tuesday, some neighbors described the younger Burkhart as a loner who loitered around the busy commercial strip at night and could be heard arguing with his mother.
But hairstylist Shlomo Elady, who routinely trimmed Burkhart's long hair, described him as a devoted son who spoke three languages and dreamed of visiting Jerusalem.
"He loved his mom, the way every son loves his mom," said Elady, who said she was stunned by charges facing Harry Burkhart. "He's not a creepy guy."
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David Schepp
David Schepp has spent more than a dozen years covering business news for the electronic and print media, including Dow Jones Newswires, BBC News, Gannett Co., and most recently at AOL's DailyFinance. Nearly 10 years ago, he started writing a weekly People@Work column, looking in depth at issues facing workers in today's workplace. Follow David on Twitter. Email David at david.schepp@huffingtonpost.com. Add David to your Google+ circles.
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