The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Contractor in fatal Shippan blaze dies
Tragedy had a ‘dramatic impact’ on Borcina’s life
STAMFORD — The contractor involved in the fatal 2011 Christmas fire died last week and never “recovered” from the incident that killed his girlfriend’s three daughters and their grandparents, his attorney said.
Michael Borcina, 58, came under scrutiny and was involved in several lawsuits following the Shippan fire that killed 9-year-old Lily Badger and 7-year-old twins Sarah and Grace, as well as their grandparents, Lomer and Pauline Johnson. The girls’ mother, Madonna Badger, and Borcina survived.
“In many respects, Michael was unfairly portrayed in the press,” Borcina’s attorney, Robert Laney, said Sunday. “The fire had a dramatic impact on him. He loved those little girls. I’m not sure he ever recovered from it.”
Laney said Borcina, who moved to New Jersey, volunteered with Habitat for Humanity in recent years.
Services for Borcina, 58, who died on Oct. 3, will be held this week on Long Island.
Borcina was dating Madonna Badger and was renovating the home before the fire.
Authorities concluded the fire started because of ashes Borcina and Madonna Badger left in the mudroom.
Borcina originally told investigators he placed the ashes in the mudroom, but later claimed Madonna Badger put them there and that he lied to protect her. Borcina, who appeared to have gone missing at one point, claimed in a later deposition that he believed the fire was electrical and described sparks shooting out of the back of the house.
Borcina escaped the fire through a window. But he later faced scrutiny because he was not a registered contractor in Connecticut. Matthew Badger, the girls’ father who died earlier this year, sued Borcina and his company, Tiberius Construction. The parties settled for $5 million.
The house was demolished the day after the fire without the family’s permission. Matthew Badger and Wade Johnson, Madonna’s brother, filed separate suits against the city, in part, for destroying the house too quickly.
One suit against the city was settled for $6.65 million. The wrongful death suit brought on behalf of Lily Badger and twins Sarah and Grace included $250,000 to be distributed over time to the city’s Girl Scouts, papers filed in Stamford Probate Court show.
The city settled two other lawsuits related to the fire. No settlement amounts have been disclosed in those cases.
Calling hours for Borcina will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, with a religious service at 7:30 p.m., at Fives Patchogue Funeral Home in Patchogue, N.Y.