Lawmen say Matthew Wong, 50, watched the door of his wife's apartment early Monday, waiting for her to walk into a trap.Thick, black garbage bags shrouded the backseat windows. A quilt covered the rear window.
"It appears it was all planned," said Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office spokesman Larry McKinnon. "He was waiting out there to ambush her."
What Wong hadn't planned on, deputies said, was getting caught in the flames that he had hoped would kill his wife, Gloria Davis, 47.
After residents of the Countrywood Apartments, 12401 Orange Grove Drive, helped extinguish the fire, Wong was taken to Tampa General Hospital just after 7 a.m. in critical condition, with third-degree burns over his upper body, McKinnon said.
The episode was still under investigation, and no charges had been filed Monday.
Davis was unharmed.
Wong's motives for attacking his wife were not immediately clear, McKinnon said.
Neighbors reported hearing screams and seeing a man on fire. "It was instantaneous," said neighbor Amy Jo Akert. "He just lit on fire. I don't even understand how."
Wrath of God? Karma?
Wong was arrested on charges of domestic battery in 2000, but the case was later dismissed, according to court records.
Pasco County deputies most recently responded to the couple's Cross Creek Lane home in November 2010, but no arrests were made.
