Firefighters and police at the scene of the May 2, 2013, house fire at 438 Hulett St. in Schenectady that killed four people and left Sa’Fyre Terry, 5 years old at the time, with burns over 75% of her body.

“You guys want me to say this and I’m saying it,” Jennica Duell told a Schenectady police detective who had spent hours trying to convince the troubled 25-year-old to attest that her friend Robert Butler had traveled with her from Saratoga Springs to Schenectady in the wee hours of May 2, 2013, and set a fire at the home of David Terry, who had recently kicked Mr. Butler out of the Hulett Street residence. The blaze killed Mr. Terry as well as three young children; his 5-year-old daughter with Ms. Duell, Sa’fyre Terry, was burned over three-quarters of her body but survived.

Ms. Duell’s testimony, as well as that of two other equally troubled individuals in her circle, was formally extracted before a grand jury by federal prosecutors, landing Mr. Butler in federal custody on a death penalty-eligible charge.........

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