Now he can burn in hell.
The arsonist who killed 87 people when he torched the Happy Land social club 26 years ago in the Bronx died Tuesday after suffering an apparent heart attack in prison.
Julio Gonzalez, 61, died at 11:30 a.m. at the Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital in Plattsburgh, state corrections spokesman Thomas Mailey said.
Gonzalez was locked up on a 25-year to life sentence in Clinton Correctional Facility after he was convicted of murder following the infamous March 25, 1990, fire.
At the time, it was called the largest mass murder in U.S. history.
Gonzalez went to the hospital after suffering what appeared to be a heart attack and died on the catheterization table, said David Doneh, the Clinton County coroner. His autopsy will be performed Wednesday, though formal results likely won’t be released for at least two months, Doneh said.
Gonzalez torched the illegal nightclub on Southern Blvd. in West Farms after an argument with his former girlfriend, Lydia Feliciano, who was one of six people to escape the flames.
After being thrown out by a bouncer that night, he returned with $1 worth of gasoline, poured the fuel around the door and lit it with two matches. Then he watched the place go up in flames before going home.
“You know, maybe he got what he deserved,” said Juan Laguna, 55, whose mother, Minerva Duprey, died in the inferno. “I’m not going to feel sad about it or anything. You know what? He had it coming to him.”
Duprey was celebrated as a hero for trying to save people inside the club.
“I’m actually happy about this, and I’m sure my mom is really relieved, too. He got what he deserved, finally,” Laguna said. “I’d rather him die than have him be released.”
Gonzalez lost his first bid for parole last year, and would have been able to apply again in November.
The patrons of the two-story club were either overcome by smoke or trampled to death as everyone rushed for the club’s lone exit, officials said.
Months before the blaze, the social club was found in violation of the city’s safety code and ordered closed.
