Photo: Danny Haley
Danny Haley of Gassville, who set fire to a house he and his wife were renting following an argument between the couple, pled guilty to a reduced charge of reckless burning during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court Thursday.
Haley will be formally sentenced early next month. Restitution in the case was set at $35,000. Prior to his formal sentencing, Haley is to pay $10,000 of the restitution due the owner of the rental property and will then make $425 monthly payments until the remaining $25,000 is paid.
Deputy Prosecutor Kerry Chism told the court the property owner approved of the plea.
According to the probable cause affidavit filed in the case, the 54-year-old Haley admitted setting a bed sheet on fire in the residence located along Moon Hollow Lane in the early morning hours of May 4, 2018. Haley told investigators he tried to put the fire out, but it quickly got out of control, and he had to exit the residence.
Officers reported Haley was extremely intoxicated at the time.
He told a number of different stories to explain how the fire started. At first, he blamed the woman identified as his wife, Linda Laffoon, for setting the fire and then put the blame on an unidentified person. The next version involved the owner of the property wanting it burned down, and a final version had Haley unplugging a heater in the bedroom and a stray spark jumped out and set the bed on fire.
Laffoon told investigators she left the house to find the owner of the rental property to tell him Haley was threatening to burn the structure. When she returned to the house, she said it was fully involved.
Eventually, Haley said he was responsible for the fire. He admitted starting bedding on fire with a cigarette lighter.
No one was injured, but a family pet died in the burning house, according to police reports.
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI