‘Howard Stern Show’ Personality Allegedly Sets Apartment Building On Fire After Getting Annoyed By ‘People Having Sex’

A man who has made numerous appearances on the “Howard Stern Show” has been arrested on an arson charge in Vermont after he allegedly admitted to a correspondent from the radio show that he intentionally "burned his house down.”

Mark “Bigfoot” Shaw Jr., 63, was arrested by police in Barre City on Wednesday on an outstanding warrant for first-degree arson in connection with a December apartment building fire, police wrote in a press release. 

Police note that they had received a call from Sirius XM Radio, advising them Shaw admitted to the radio show’s correspondent "Wolfie" over the phone that he "burned his house down" and "lied to police about knocking over a candle.”

Authorities responded to the apartment building, which housed several occupants, on Dec. 3 after receiving a call about the fire in Shaw’s first-floor unit. In an affidavit, obtained by Oxygen.com, police recall smoke pouring out of the building.

"I asked Shaw what was on fire, Shaw stated that he did not know and told me that I could go figure it out,” an officer detailed, adding that Shaw refused to leave the building. Other residents had to be evacuated and a ladder was required to get his 30-year-old neighbor out of the unit above him.

Nobody appeared to be injured, but there was extensive damage to the building, WCAX-TV reported at the time. The local fire department has estimated that the total monetary loss from the fire was approximately $75,000, according to police.

After the fire was put out, Shaw allegedly demanded that an officer retrieve his “glass pipe” and a half bottle of “fire water” — referring to the alcoholic beverage Fireball — from his apartment, which they did for him.

Mark Shaw Photo: Barre City Police Department

Shaw told police he "dropped a candle" which then "hit a broom." He claimed that subsequently set his table on fire and that it all became "too hot to put out,” according to the affidavit. He allegedly made several odd remarks to police the night of the fire, including "this is what they get," "it had to happen," and "you guys were having sex in there you bunch of liars, now where are you going to f---." 

Police noted that in the weeks leading up to the fire, Shaw made multiple calls to authorities, claiming that people were having sex outside his doorway and in the hallways. 

Police wrote in the affidavit that Shaw also allegedly said that “he wanted to kill himself in the smoke.”

Just one day before the fire, Shaw had three interactions with police: one in which he claimed police came by, threatened to shoot him and burn down his home; the second in which he claimed that someone was naked in the hallway; and the third being a complaint from a neighbor  — the one who required rescue by ladder in the fire — who said Shaw’s television was too loud.

As police were trying to get Shaw out of his smoke-filled apartment, he spoke to “Wolfie” in a recorded phone call. That call, as well as three other allegedly incriminating calls, were forwarded to the Barre City Police Department by the radio show. In those calls, Shaw allegedly admitted to setting the fire intentionally to force his neighbors out. At points in one of the calls, police could be heard yelling for Shaw to leave his apartment.

"I had no choice. I told ya they blew my last straw tonight, they did, when I heard them having sex out in the hallway again. I was trying to force them out whatever it took,” he told the show's correspondent in a transcription of the phone conversation, obtained by Oxygen.com.

It does not appear that any of the calls aired on the “Howard Stern Show.” A spokesperson for the show has not immediately returned Oxygen.com’s request for comment.

Shaw appeared to be most active on the show around 2007 but the show regularly checks in with him. Stern noted in a 2020 episode that Shaw, who is part of the show's "Wack Pack" — a motley crew of revolving guests — appears to have issues living with and around other people.

“Bigfoot has a new roommate almost every time we check in with him,” Stern said, adding that his living condition “sounds worse than the Munsters’ house.”

Shaw regularly spoke about his struggles with mental health during his radio appearances. 

He was arrested in 2013 for allegedly attacking the police chief in Newport, Vermont with a three-and-a-half-foot-long sword, local publication the Caledonian Record reported at the time. He was found incompetent to stand trial and was held at a mental health facility at the time.

The notorious radio figure has been convicted of at least 23 misdemeanor charges. It’s not clear if he currently has a lawyer.