The forthcoming sale of the family home where crazed Webster gunman William Spengler Jr. lived with his sister may have triggered the horrific Christmas Eve ambush that left two firefighters dead.

Spengler Jr., a convicted felon, left a rambling suicide note but no clear motive for why he apparently torched his upstate New York house, luring firefighters to the scene before gunning them down and killing himself in the pre-dawn attack.

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A body found in the remains has not been identified, but is believed to be that of his sister, Cheryl Spengler.

Realtor Laura LaManna of Nothnagle Realtors told the Daily News that Cheryl had just closed on a new home in nearby Henrietta and was gearing up to sell the Lake Road house where the siblings grew up.

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Spengler Jr., 62, was reportedly feuding with his sister, and the situation was especially tense after their mother died in October.

“They didn’t get along at all, and that’s why (Cheryl) was moving,” LaManna said.

The planned sale of their childhood home may have pushed Spengler over the edge, law enforcement officials told the Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, N.Y.).

Spengler’s handwritten note did tip off authorities to how he obtained the semiautomatic rifle and the 12-gauge shotgun he had with him on Dec. 24.

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William Spengler Jr. may have been pushed over the edge by his sister’s plan to sell the home they shared. She reportedly planned to sell the house because they had a tumultuous relationship. 

Spengler was previously in prison for 17 years in the death of his 92-year-old grandmother, who was bludgeoned with a hammer, and should never have had access to firearms.

A neighbor, 24-year-old Dawn Nguyen, allegedly purchased the guns for him. Authorities charged her on Friday with lying on a form that said she would own the weapons.

Police used the serial numbers on the guns to trace them back to Nguyen, officials said.

The semiautomatic rifle used by Spengler is similar to the one that a 20-year-old gunman fired off to massacre 26 people at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school.

eortiz@nydailynews.com

 

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