US man who sought revenge for a stolen phone pleads guilty to fire that killed a Senegalese family of five

The burned home of the Diol family is still fenced and stands burned with old bouquets, stuffed animals and other remembrances hanging on the fence surrounding the house, on Jan 27, 2021, in Denver. Kevin Bui pleaded guilty Friday, May 17, 2024, to a house fire that killed five members of the Senegalese family in 2020 in a case of misplaced revenge caused by mistakenly tracking his stolen iPhone to the home. — The Denver Post via AP

DENVER: A Colorado man pleaded guilty to murder charges on May 17 for starting a 2020 house fire that killed five members of a Senegalese family out of misplaced revenge for a stolen iPhone that he mistakenly tracked to the house.

Kevin Bui, now 20, was a teenager at the time of the fire but prosecuted as an adult. He has been portrayed by prosecutors as the ringleader of three friends who started the Aug 5, 2020, fire in the middle of the night in a Denver neighbourhood.