On this day, Feb. 10, 1981, eight people were killed when a fire set by a busboy broke out at the Las Vegas Hilton hotel-casino. At first it appeared that room service busboy Phillip Bruce Cline, 24, was a hero for warning guests about the flames, but as fire investigators began digging into his claims, his story began to crumble.
While taking a polygraph, Cline broke down and confessed he accidentally set the fire after he engaged in sex with a man named Joe. He said they smoked marijuana and the joint set a curtain on fire.
But investigators said the blaze had four points of origin and that Cline started them.
A jury found him guilty of eight murders and arson. He was sentenced to eight life sentences.
