Man and Ex-Wife Indicted for Role in Deadly 2001 Blaze

In 2001, a St. Louis fire claimed the life of then 15 year old Zach Kemper, a fire which police say was intentionally started by the boy’s mother, Sandra Kay Bryant. After her 2002 trial on arson and murder charges ended in a mistrial, and ultimately a ruling that the state could not retry Bryant, it would appear that Bryant and her ex-spouse, Steven Henry Kemper, are now facing federal mail fraud charges in connection with the fire.

According to prosecutors and the Washington Post, Bryant and Kemper , who have supposedly been involved in several arson fires at their homes to defraud insurers, were accused in a federal indictment on October 31st of intentionally setting fire to their house while their 15-year-old son Zach was still sleeping inside.

Steven Henry Kemper, 53, and Sandra Kay Bryant, 55, face charges of aiding and abetting the use of fire to commit mail fraud. Bryant is also charged with using fire to commit mail fraud. Both could receive up to life in prison if convicted.

Prosecutors allege that the pair was also involved in several other schemes to defraud insurance companies from 1996 to 2002. U.S. Attorney Richard Callahan noted three arson fires at homes in which the family lived –in 1997, 1999 and the 2001 fire in Florissant that killed their son.

The indictment alleges that the fire started early on Nov. 16, 2001, with hairspray being used to ignite the fire in a utility room trash can. It also declares that the couple knew their son was asleep in a basement bedroom when the fire began.

Two adults, plus Bryant and Kemper, got out, but Zach Kemper was found dead by rescuers later on next to a bed in the basement, just feet away from a fire extinguisher.

St. Louis County prosecutors charged Bryant with arson and first-degree murder in 2002, but a judge declared a mistrial after ruling that he had mistakenly allowed jurors to hear evidence of a polygraph test. The Missouri Supreme Court ruled in 2006 that because the mistrial was declared over the defense’s objection, state prosecutors could not retry Bryant because doing so would violate the U.S. Constitution’s “double jeopardy” provision.

Callahan noted that agents with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms never gave up on the case though. He stated, “Early this year there started to be some major progress in the investigation.”

Kemper was not previously charged with a crime related to the fire or his son’s death.

The indictment alleges that “substantial” homeowners and life insurance payments were made to the couple after the 2001 fire that totaled well over $200,000.