When a Baby Was Burned in a House Fire, a Real-Life 'Hand That Rocks the Cradle' Trial Ensued By Virginia Chamlee

When William and Denise Fischer kissed their 3-month-old daughter, Kristie, goodbye on Dec. 2, 1991, they had no idea it would be for the last time. Hours later, their home was set on fire, with their baby inside it.

Authorities claimed the couple’s then-20-year-old au pair, a Swiss woman named Olivia Riner, had doused the child in some sort of flame accelerant before setting fire to the Fischers’ Thornwood, N.Y., home.

The tragedy quickly made headlines and drew national attention, not only for the shocking nature of the alleged crime, but also because it became entwined in the public imagination with the release of The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, about a deceptive live-in babysitter who wreaks havoc on the family she works for, which came out just one month later in January 1992.

As PEOPLE reported in February 1992, Riner started working for the Fischers just one month before the fire. She came with “glowing references” from her au pair agency and had previously worked as a pediatrician’s assistant.

It was Riner, who primarily spoke Swiss-German and little English, who first called the police at around 5:10 p.m. that fateful day, saying, “Hi, fire.” In a second call placed five minutes later and much more urgently, “The baby’s in the room!”

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Riner had been home alone with Kristie at the two-story house while William, then 48, worked at his auto-repair shop, and 39-year-old Denise, an accountant, was at her office.

Riner would tell authorities she had left Kristie asleep in her nursery in a plastic car seat, where the baby often napped, while she fed the Fischers’ four cats.

She hadn’t noticed the fire until one of the cats became spooked.

As PEOPLE reported, one person reached the home before even the firemen: John P. Gallagher III, a 26-year-old auto mechanic and the boyfriend of Leah Fischer, William’s older daughter and Kristie’s 22-year-old half-sister.

Gallagher would later testify that he had been on his way to the home to meet Leah and, when he arrived, grabbed a fire extinguisher from the au pair and kicked open the nursery door, which he claimed had been locked. He added that he extinguished the fire, but the child was already dead.

Police and fire units arrived minutes later. Authorities would later say three separate fires had been set in the home, including one in the nursery, where some sort of flame accelerant was found.

Per PEOPLE, Gallagher was briefly questioned by police while Riner was questioned for 10 hours straight, first at a neighbor’s house and then at police headquarters. No interpreters or lawyers were present. She was arrested that night on arson and murder charges.

Throughout the questioning, the au pair maintained her innocence, telling detectives, “I don’t set no fire,” while Gallagher and the Fischers were given immunity in exchange for their grand jury testimony.

A one-month trial began on June 2, 1992, with the prosecution’s case quickly collapsing under Riner’s attorney’s cross-examinations. The defense highlighted the fact that authorities provided no physical evidence linking the au pair to the child’s death — and no motive.

What’s more, the defense argued, police had botched the investigation, allegedly discarding a blood sample found on a door jamb at the home, waiting to examine the baby’s burned car seat until two days after the fire, taking no notes during their questioning of Gallagher and failing to secure the crime scene.

While prosecutors could not pinpoint the au pair’s motive, the defense attempted to allude to a different person of interest at trial, arguing that Gallagher had a bone to pick with the family, alleging that the Fischers had told him he could no longer sleep over at their house after hiring Riner.

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Gallagher, however, denied any involvement in the fires while on the stand. He was never named as a suspect in connection with the incident.

Riner, meanwhile, answered questions under oath, insisting she and the baby were alone at the time of the fire, but also claiming she was not the one responsible for setting it.

The jury was unconvinced of Riner’s involvement and, following four weeks of testimony, acquitted her of all charges after a single day of deliberation.

Speaking to reporters outside the courthouse in her native language, Riner said, “I can’t be angry. I am relieved at this point. I am sorry this happened, and I am very sad [the Fischers] lost their daughter.”

District Attorney Carl Vergari announced soon after that the case would not be reopened.

Speaking to reporters, a tearful Denise said, “The real thing here is, we lost our baby. How do we go on?”

In an interview with the Associated Press in 1995, Riner’s attorney stated that her client had moved back to Switzerland and refused to give interviews. No one was ever convicted of the crime.

Per an obituary, William died in 2014.