ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, November 6, 1996 TAG: 9611060033
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: LISA GARCIA STAFF WRITER
A Radford woman admitted to police that she set a fire that destroyed two vehicles and a pull-along camper causing an estimated $14,000 in damage last August, a Christiansburg investigator testified Tuesday.
Janet King, 46, was in Montgomery County General District Court for a preliminary hearing on charges of grand larceny and destruction of property as well as three counts of arson.
Investigator Tom Lawson of the Christiansburg Police testified that King voluntarily came to the police station the day following the fire and admitted to the crimes. She said a card she saw on the seat of her boyfriend's car signed by another woman spurred her anger, Lawson said.
King took full responsibility for her actions and told him, "I admit I made a mistake, and I am very sorry for what I did," Lawson testified.
General District Judge John Quigley merged the three arson charges into one and certified the arson charge as well as the grand larceny charge. A grand jury will now decide whether to indict King on these felony charges for trial in Circuit Court.
In the larceny case, King is charged with taking a pistol from her boyfriend's camper. Authorities said the gun was returned within a day. King faces a maximum of 30 years in prison if convicted on the two felonies.
In the District Court hearing, Quigley also found King guilty of a less serious misdemeanor charge of destruction of property for breaking windows in a second pull-along camper. He ordered her to pay a $250 fine plus $30 in restitution.
The Aug. 29 fire began when King set fire to some of her boyfriend's clothes outside of the vehicles, Lawson testified Tuesday. The flames spread and destroyed a Trans Am and Bronco owned by King's boyfriend, James Dunford of Christiansburg, and a pull-along camper owned by a friend, according to testimony. The fire's heat melted the siding on a second camper owned by Dunford. The fire occurred in Christiansburg on Scattergood Drive at a local disposal company.
King told police she never intended to set the vehicles on fire, but that the fire she set in the clothes spread to the cars and camper, Lawson testified.
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