Hampton Bays Man Dies in Fire After Pleading Guilty to Attempted Manslaughter of Mother on Christmas

A Hampton Bays man died in a house fire Wednesday, five days after admitting he tried to help his 97-year-old mother take her own life on Christmas Day, according to Southampton Town Police and Suffolk County court records.

Officers and firefighters responded to the scene to find the Mildred Place home fully engulfed in flames with black smoke pouring from the windows shortly before 10 a.m.  Hampton Bays Fire Department firefighters pulled from the second floor the only person inside, 71-year-old Frank Holecek, who was taken to a local hospital, where he died.

Holecek had pleaded guilty to attempted manslaughter with intent to aid suicide on June 25 before Judge Richard Ambro, records show. A charge of attempted murder was dropped in exchange for his plea. He was sentenced to six months time served, which he spent in county jail while his charges were pending, and five months of probation. The judge also issued an order of protection for Holecek to stay away from his mother for eight years. 

In the incident that led up to that arrest, Southampton Town Police officers responded to the Hampton Bays home to find Holecek suffering from self-inflicted wounds to his wrists shortly after 5 p.m. on December 25. His mother told responding officers that Holecek attempted to kill her before he tried to take his own life.

Suffolk County Police Arson Squad detectives, Southampton Town Police detectives, and the Southampton Town Fire Marshall’s office are investigating the cause of the fire. The Southampton Fire Department, Flanders Fire Department, East Quogue Fire Department, and Southampton Fire Department all responded to help extinguish the flames.