Man sets fire inside ex-girlfriend’s home as she and her daughter sleep, feds say
Days after a “romantic relationship” came to an end, a man set fire inside his ex-girlfriend’s Missouri rental home as the woman, her daughter and her aunt were asleep, authorities said.
Now about six months later, the 39-year-old man has pleaded guilty in federal court to a charge of maliciously damaging or destroying by means of fire, according to a Nov. 1 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri. The charge is a felony.
The man’s defense attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment from McClatchy News on Nov. 2.
In his signed plea agreement, the man said he and his girlfriend broke up around April 26. Before breaking up, the couple had been living together in a Florissant home.
After the break up, authorities said the man still had a key to the rental.
At about 5:10 a.m. April 29, the woman woke up to the sound of a fire alarm, according to court records. Prosecutors said she “followed the smell of something burning and discovered that there was a fire burning in her basement.”
Her clothing had been set on fire, authorities said, and the fire spread to the home.
The woman, her daughter and her aunt safely escaped the home, according to the release.
After the fire was extinguished, fire investigators determined the fire was deliberately set, according to the plea agreement. The mother also noticed several items were missing from her home, including cell phones on her nightstand and some keys.
Investigators said they found surveillance video that showed someone park outside the home at about 2:50 a.m. and exit the vehicle. The person returned to the vehicle at about 4:40 a.m. and drove away, authorities said.
In his plea agreement, the ex-boyfriend said he set the clothing on fire and left while the clothes were “still smoking.”
Prosecutors and the man’s defense attorney are recommending he spend five years in federal prison, according to the release. His sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 30.
Florissant is a suburb of St. Louis.
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