DIBRELL, Tenn. - We've all heard the saying, "No good deed goes unpunished." That was certainly the case for a middle Tennessee couple.
They let a man stay with them, and how did he repay them? Police said by burning down their house.
The incident happened in Warren County. The suspect was booked in jail, and the couple lost everything.
Scott Bell and Kim Hennessee still couldn’t believe how they were treated.
Their home was reduced to a burned out shell of a trailer near the little town of Dibrell in Warren County.
"In a million years I can never understand what was going through that man's mind to make him do something like that," Bell said.
That man was identified as 62-year-old Bill Schwab.
He has been charged with burning down the couple's home.
“He shut our bedroom door,” Bell said. “He locked both doors. He let the fire get out of hand before he took off walking. That lets me know. Yeah, I believe he was trying to do us in."
The home was paid for. Scott paid it off with money from his father who recently passed away.
Life was pretty good.
"We've been together 12 years, and he's always worked,” Kim Hennessee said. “I've been working the past five years and this is what we wanted."
Then, three weeks ago they tried to help Schwab by letting him stay there.
"He didn't have anywhere to go,” Hennessee said. “He doesn't have family here, and we took him in and tried to help him as much as possible."
They knew he had some issues. Scott said Schwab was schizophrenic and needed medication.
He said in the days leading up to the fire Schwab started acting a little strange -- really strange on Sunday.
"He had this real lost look on his face, and he just stayed there until we went to bed," Bell said.
A few hours later they woke up to smoke in the house.
"He sniffed, and he said, ‘What's that smell?’” Hennessee said. “And he opened the door and black smoke just poured into our room."
Kim had to kick out the back door to escape. Three times Scott risked his life and ran back inside to find Schwab.
They didn't know he left and took almost everything they owned.
"We have nothing left. Nothing," Hennessee said.
Schwab could face additional charges including attempted murder.
Scott Bell and Kim Hennessee said they're thankful to be alive, but they were not insured so they have nothing left.
