Dead Prison Inmate Named As Suspect In Fatal 2016 Seal Beach Fire

SEAL BEACH, CA — The Seal Beach Police Department announced Monday it closed a cold case of a fatal apartment fire in 2016 after naming a now-dead prison inmate as the primary suspect.

William Pratt, 60, was identified as a suspect in the fire. Lt. Nick Nicholas, a spokesman for the police department, said Pratt was a "homeless individual known to frequent Seal Beach."

An apartment was engulfed in flames around midnight on April 30, 2016, in the 200 block of 17th Street.

The Orange County Fire Authority quickly extinguished the flames, but a man died in the fire, Nicholas said. He was identified as 67-year-old John Donnelly.

Donnelly's dog, a Jack Russell terrier, was also killed in the fire.

Nicholas said authorities determined someone intentionally started the fire after OCFA investigators found traces of an accelerant outside the apartment's stairwell.

The investigation pointed to Pratt as a suspect, and Nicholas told the Register he had been in contact with Donnelly before the fire.

Pratt was in prison on Aug. 7, 2020, serving a sentence unrelated to the fire, when he died in a fight with a fellow inmate, Nicholas said.

"Based on the information developed during the investigation and the fact that William Pratt is now deceased, the Seal Beach Police Department has closed this case," he said.