PROVO, Utah, Feb. 12, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — A 60-year-old Provo woman has been charged with arson after an area near the shed her husband had been living in with another woman was set ablaze.
The suspect, whose name Gephardt Daily is withholding to protect the privacy of the victims, is charged with aggravated arson, a first-degree felony in the Friday incident.
The victims had been living in the homemade shed in the general area of 2000 West and 300 North, Provo.
“A fire was started in the area adjacent to this shed,” the suspect’s probable cause statement says. “A lot of combustible items were stored on the exterior east side of a shed on the south side of this property.
“Two individuals who lived in the shed, and were inhabiting the shed at the time of the fire, smelled smoke and exited the shed to find it fully engulfed in flames on the east side. As they exited the shed, (the suspect) was standing near the ignition point of the fire staring at the fire and the occupants of the shed.
“(The suspect) is currently married to the male in the shed, and that male is now cohabitating with a different female that was inside the shed with the male at the time of the fire.”
A five gallon gas can that was about 1/8 full, with no lid, was found near the the start point of the fire, the statement says.
The suspect “stated in her initial interview that she saw the flames and attempted to warn the occupants of the shed by shouting at them. Both occupants of the shed stated that (the suspect) did not say anything to them or alert them of the fire, but was found, near the point of origin, staring at them.”
The suspect left the scene, but was found later a few blocks away, her probable cause statement says. She had a butane torch and cigarettes in her possession when she was taken into custody.
“An accelerant sniffing K-9 gave an positive indication on the shoes and pants worn by (the suspect) during an open air search conducted at the Provo Police Department,” the statement said.
The suspect is being held without bail in the Utah County jail.
