Arsonist Tripped Up by “How-To Start a Fire” Manual

Fireman Friendly has two simple rules to follow to stay out of trouble when it comes to playing with fire (not that you should ever do that!).  Rule number 1: do not set fire to your own house or anyone else’s. Rule number 2: If you do decide two ignore rule number 1, don’t leave your  “how-to start a fire” manual lying around. Things may go badly for one California man who did not follow this sage advice.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Jasen Meyn’s house north of Napa caught fire back in July of 2006 while Meyn and his wife were away. The previous year they had bought the home for $615,000, but they were now having trouble keeping up with the payments and were unsuccessfully trying to sell it. One neighbor reports seeing Meyn going in and out of the house earlier in the morning, and another neighbor heard a loud explosion just before seeing the flames.

Napa County prosecutors charged Meyn with arson and insurance fraud two years later, saying their investigators found some propane gas valves that had been loosened and evidence that gasoline had been poured in the living room. Meyn denied it, and his lawyer called experts who disputed the presence of gasoline and said the valves could have been loosened by the heat of the fire.

Meyn’s original jury conviction was overturned on appeal, but he was convicted by another jury in 2010. A state appeals court also upheld the verdict and his four-year prison sentence recently.

What may have been the straw that broke the camels back was a file that a sheriff’s investigator found in the hard drive of Meyn’s computer. It was from an unidentified author who was discussing the fine points of fire starting. It stated:

“Before you try to fake a fire, know how to do it properly,” the author advised. The suggestions included setting the fire under an appliance or near a stove that ”has ‘carelessly’ been left on,” not using “gasoline or other traceable materials,” and not hanging around to watch the fire because “police have been known to photograph the crowd.”

Meyn’s lawyer argued cited the fact that the arsonist did use gasoline, which is a contrast to the advice in Meyn’s computer file.  Just a coincidence.

The defense challenged evidence that Meyn drastically changed his appearance before the fire, stating that this had no logical connection to the claims of either arson or insurance fraud.

The First District Court of Appeal noted that Meyn was a 23-year-old unemployed man with an unpaid mortgage along with other problems at the time of the fire. Therefore there was little reason to expect him to act “in a perfectly logical manner.”