Maybe it was good planning. Maybe it was a series of mere coincidences and misfortune.
But a jury found it was arson and insurance fraud, convicting a Jacksonville man Thursday of setting a series of fires at his Arlington apartment just hours after purchasing a $70,000 renter’s insurance policy.
Christopher Joseph Koepke, 31, was found guilty of two counts of first-degree arson, five counts of second-degree arson and a single count of filing a fraudulent or false insurance claim. First-degree arson carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.
http://liarcatchers.com/arson_investigation.html
Five cars parked outside and two entrances going into a building at the Columns apartments were burnt during the October 2011 incident. Fire investigators quickly ruled it as an act of arson.
The seven fires set on the property came just six months after Koepke’s first unit there was destroyed by another fire. Koepke and his family collected $40,000 in insurance claims from the first fire, maxing out the policy just weeks after it was purchased.
Kimberly Koepke said that after canceling that policy, her husband had wanted to purchase another one citing health hazards from a reoccurring sewage backup. But after explaining their financial troubles, she said she told her husband they couldn’t afford it with increased premiums the higher limits carried.
But Koepke did so anyway.
In fact, he purchased the policy the morning of Sept. 14 before also buying a gas can from a local tire and lube shop, prosecutors said. The fire occurred during the early morning hours the next day.
A matching gas can was found at the fire scene. Koepke’s defense said that his can was lost or could have been stolen from his car, which had been found with a door left open the night of the fires.
Defense attorney Casey Bryant had emphasized throughout the trial that the state presented no direct evidence against his client, only circumstantial.
“You have to respect the verdict when a jury has a verdict,” Bryant said. “Obviously myself and my client disagree with it. It’s totally circumstantial in nature.”
Other than damages to the cars, only two units were affected by smoke damage, including Koepke’s. No one was injured although the couple’s two young children were also home during the fires.
An insurance claim from the second fire has not been paid.
