"It's gonna burn..." Ravish and Ben...

(Note: This entry was written to be posted in my true crime weblog, The Dark Side of Planet Huff, but the server problems we've had with planethuff.com have popped up again, so in the interest of just getting this online I'm posting it here, first, and will cross-post to The Dark Side later ~ I.C./S.H.)

I receive a lot of tips about any number of stories in my e-mail, and a good deal of the time they don't lead anywhere. A great deal of the time they amount to no more than gossip.

I received one just after 1 a.m. on September 26, 2005, that on the surface seemed to fall under that heading, and I was ready to reject it. It was about Ben Fawley, and a place named Ravish.

I did some checking.

From VCMagazine.net, an 'event review' for the grand opening of Ravish Clothing & Alternative Photography in 2004:

On Friday June 5th Ravish Clothing celebrated it's grand opening in the heart of Richmond Virginia's historic "Fan District". They did it in grand faction (sic) with free food, beer, and the beautiful "Ravish Girls". I had a chance to check out the store before the crowd showed up. The shop has a definite upscale boutique look to while still maintaining its alternative feel.

They also have a full photography studio specializing in "alternative" photography. They can handle any style to fit your needs, ranging form your standard family and group portraits, to boudoir, and Hollywood glamour. Ravish also has catalogues with leather and bondage goods that you can special order from, as well as the ability to special order jewelry from the Alchemy Gothic line...

Here is a partial quote of the tip I received:

i heard through the grape vine an interesting story about ben fawley that connects to his love of fire and his criminal background... i guess a little while ago there was a fire at the alternative clothing store Ravish on Main st. and apparently two days before that ben was seen in there in a huge argument with people over something to do with the store. They could never prove it was him who set the fire...

From the present version of the store's website:

Ravish is sorry to announce that we have to cancel the HallowScreen Party. There was a fire in the store and we will be closed until further notice. Thank you to all of our fantastic customers! Hopefully we'll see you all soon!

Then there is this article by VCU's Commonwealth Times reporter Jessica Chapin, published in November of 2004 -- Fire halts business, raises community concern. From the article by Ms. Chapin:

About 3:15 a.m. Oct. 31, a fire that started in the rear of the store triggered the alarm. Officials notified Humphries and she rushed to the scene, but caution tape sectioned off a two-block radius around the store's perimeter.

Nix Smith, assistant manager, said she heard about the unfortunate incident at about 9 a.m. and reacted in what she called "bewilderment."

Smith said the only thing they could do was "follow the steps, call the landlord, call the insurance company."

The Ravish team said that officials told them an investigation would follow, but they would be able to go into the store the next day.

"It was really difficult because we wanted to clean up but couldn't touch anything because of the investigation," Smith said(...)

Opening the store was unique in terms of location. Ravish is located in a historic building that still has much of its original flooring, windows and ceiling tiles, and is protected by the Historical Preservation Society.

The fire damaged many of the historic artifacts and materials that make this business special, but Humphries and Smith hope to reopen the store as soon as possible.

Officials are still investigating the cause of the fire. The Ravish team has yet to discuss ways the community can get involved in the restoration process...

I have referred in an earlier weblog entry to a former lover of Ben "Skulz" Fawley's who began her journal in March of 2004 by describing the assault for which she eventually took Ben to court. At the time I felt it was best to not reveal the woman's name or the URL of her Livejournal, but she has since given interviews to the mainstream media about her involvement with Ben Fawley, so while I will still not link her Livejournal, even though she gave me permission, I can tell you now that her name is Jessica Payton.

On June 4, 2004, Jessica Payton was present at the grand opening for Ravish Clothing & Alternative Photography, as a "Ravish Girl." The link in the preceding sentence will take you to the archive.org record for the store's website and a photo of Jessica. She's the one on the right.

The following is a direct quote from a journal entry Jessica made on June 4, 2004 -- emphasis mine:

well i am letting my nails dry...getting beautiful for Ravish...not sure what i want to wear yet...hmmmm...

So according to my tip, then, on or around October 29, 2004, Ben Fawley had some sort of altercation, at least verbally, with someone at Ravish Clothing & Alternative Photography -- Jessica Payton, Fawley's ex, by the way, was still associated with the store as of October 31, 2004. The following is a quote from an entry she wrote that day, after saying in the previous entry that she was set to attend "Fabian's movie premiere" at Ravish:

scratch the ravish thing

:( :( :(

now what?

So many coincidences surround Ben "Skulz" Fawley, the 38-year-old amateur photographer presently incarcerated on child porn charges in Richmond, Virginia. He is one of the more unlucky men I've ever had the misfortune to write about.

First, the very night Fawley's friend and 17-year-old lover Taylor Behl goes missing in September of this year, Ben is mysteriously assaulted by 3 to 4 guys, a trashbag thrown over his head, his camera equipment stolen. Then, while investigating Ben for some connection between him and Taylor's disappearance, police find that unfortunate child pornography "an ex-roommate" left on one or more of Ben's computers.

Now I have found that just after Ben Fawley may have had some run-in with someone at the shop where Jessica Payton worked, on Halloween night, the shop caught fire.

It is only a coincidence, of course, that Fawley has enough of an attraction to fire that he subtitled one of his Livejournals, "Burn, Baby, Burn ~ The Trash of a Crazy X-Con." It is only a coincidence that Fawley at one time had a cryptic blog entry there showing several canisters of some sort, one of them with an obvious hazardous warning label on it -- a skull, of course -- and the words, "It's gonna burn..."

It is surely just coincidence that Ben Fawley has exclusively dated women decades his junior for some time -- Jessica Payton was 19 when she and Ben dated, he was 36 -- and child porn was found on a computer in his home.

A total coincidence, of course, that the night Ben Fawley showed up and informed law enforcement he'd been assaulted, and the officer to whom he reported must have seen evidence of the same, that Taylor Behl also vanished. Sheer coincidence that Ben may have had some minor injuries that at least could have been caused by someone defending themselves against an attack.

Just coincidence, for poor old Skulz, the unluckiest 38-year-old Goth/Skaterboy currently in jail in Virginia on child porn charges.

UPDATE, 9/26/05, 11:50 a.m. ET

Dan Riehl adds a couple of nails to the coffin here, with an entry that includes links to Fawley's photos of what could be construed as the elements of an arsonist's hit kit. Oh -- probably just one of those coincidences, though.