Argument led to double homicide in Point Breeze

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

An argument over marijuana escalated into a fight that left two men dead at the hands of a third man who then set fire to the home where the bodies were hidden, according to police.

Pittsburgh police believe Vincent Smith, 58, killed John Robert Van Dyke, 54, of Swissvale, and Steven Pariser, 71, of Point Breeze, on Feb. 21, then hid their bodies in Mr. Pariser’s basement. When police arrived Monday in search of Mr. Van Dyke, Smith set the Point Breeze house on fire in an attempt to commit suicide, according to a criminal complaint.

Smith survived the blaze and is now charged with two counts of homicide; four counts of aggravated arson; four counts of endangering another person; two counts of abusing a corpse; and a count of endangering property via arson.

The investigation began when Mr. Van Dyke’s brother reported him missing on Feb. 22 to Swissvale police, who felt there was enough information to open an investigation even though Mr. Van Dyke had only been missing for eight hours, Chief Ellis Watson said.

Swissvale police issued a beon-the-lookout alert for Mr. Van Dyke, visited his apartment, checked area hospitals and pulled his phone records, Chief Watson said. “When [a missing person] is an adult, they have a right to go where they go,” Chief Watson said. “But out of an abundance of caution, we reacted proactively and in a short amount of time.”

and had spread lighter fluid throughout the house.

Smith is a drifter who has been in and around the Pittsburgh area for many years, said an Oakland man who has been acquainted with him for decades. The man, who asked not to be named, said he used to buy marijuana from Smith about 20 years ago, and then Smith for years would randomly show up at his apartment, even as recently as last summer.

They’d talk and sometimes hang out, he said, but he did not let Smith live with him.

Smith listed the Oakland man’s phone number as his own on court records.

Smith is a convicted felon with a criminal history in Allegheny County concentrated in the early 1990s, as well as a single recent case in 2014, according to court records.

In 2014, Smith was charged with simple assault, harassment and luring a child after an 11-yearold girl said he offered her candy and asked her to help look for his dog, then tried to grab her.

Smith was living in “an old church” in Verona at the time, according to court records.

Smith pleaded no contest to the simple assault charge, the harassment charge was withdrawn and the child-luring charge was changed to a count of simple assault.

He was charged with the double homicide through a warrant and remained hospitalized Wednesday.