Police, friends puzzled over who would want to kill Seal Beach man who died in fire

SEAL BEACH >> The mystery of John Doelly’s death is growing.

This week friends of the Seal Beach local who died in a fire early Saturday moing — a former special-education teacher they described as dedicated to helping veterans and animals — said they can’t think of anyone who would want to kill him.

“Obviously, when somebody goes out like that, it’s horrifying,” said Dan Weston, a teacher at Savaa High School in Anaheim who was a longtime friend and co-worker of Doelly.

“I don’t know of any enemies that John Doelly had.”

Seal Beach police don’t either, yet.

The fire, reported shortly after midnight, initially was believed to be an accident and possibly related to debris in Doelly’s apartment.

But Seal Beach police Sgt. Phil Gonshak said that investigators now believe someone used an accelerant to start a fire outside the second-floor duplex in the back of a house on the 200 block of 17th Street.

“You are dealing with a whole new set of circumstances,” Gonshak said.

Investigators interviewed neighbors and looked at home-security video they got from nearby residents. Gonshak said police have no suspect and aren’t aware of a motive.

Doelly, 67, and his beloved Jack Russell terrier, Eddie, died in the blaze. Firefighters couldn’t reach them because of debris inside the apartment, officials said.

Doelly and Eddie were neighborhood regulars, as Doelly made visits on foot or bike to a few spots he frequented regularly.

This week, as news of Doelly’s death spread through the community, neighbors and friends added to a makeshift memorial outside Doelly’s apartment. A Hawaiian shirt – a favorite of Doelly – was hung near posters and handwritten messages were nailed into plywood that covered broken, bued-out windows.

“The first time I saw him I thought he was a skiy Santa Claus,” said Delra Trevino, a deli clerk at a Pavilions supermarket Doelly frequented, sometimes twice a day.

Trevino said Doelly, who wore his hair long and sported a thick beard, would buy potato salad for himself and slices of ham for Eddie.

“He looked like a 1,000-year-old hippie.”

Doelly’s friends said the retired teacher was a friend of Bob Weir, the co-founder of the Grateful Dead, and that the band had helped Doelly celebrate his New Year’s Eve birthday on more than one occasion.

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Doelly sometimes helped others celebrate. He regularly took Hickory Farms cheeses, candy and other treats to patients at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Long Beach. Teresa Browner, a neighbor, recalled that Doelly loved to take the bus from Seal Beach to make the visits.

“He was super friendly,” she said. “I can’t fathom why anyone would want to harm him.”

Doelly also regularly visited – and helped – the Seal Beach Animal Care shelter.

Jane Paes, who helps operate the facility, said Doelly would help with fundraisers and other events.

“He was never without Eddie,” she said. “I just thought of him as a happy guy who wanted to help.”

Doelly, who never married or had children, carved out a career as a special education teacher, working with children with leaing and developmental disabilities.

His friend Weston said Doelly taught from 1979 to 2007 at Keedy, and, later, at Savaah High School, both in Anaheim. In the 2003-2004 school year Doelly was Teacher of the Year at the Anaheim Union High School District.

Doelly also founded the Orange County Chapter of Best Buddies Inteational, an organization that provides socialization and employment opportunities to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Weston described Doelly as something of a counter-culture Renaissance man, accomplished as a photographer and a writer about topics such as “experiential education.” Weston said Doelly left formal education because he was frustrated with the profession’s increasingly test-oriented direction.

Weston also suggested that the debris in Doelly’s apartment was a collection of items that he would gather from others only to pass on to people in need.

“He could give something away as quickly as he got it and he often did,” Weston said.