(Spirit Lake)– A Dickinson county jury has convicted an Owatonna, Minnesota man on a charge of arson in the second degree.
46-year-old Larry Steven Larson was accused of setting a fire at a mobile home at Rusty’s Mobile Home Park in Lake Park in the early morning of June 6th, 1999. The mobile home was owned by Christine Wheeler, with whom Larson allegedly developed a relationship.
Lake Park Police Chief Jeff Jacobsma was called to a report of a disturbance at the mobile home and removed Wheeler and her children. The mobile home went up in flames shortly after they got out.
A neighbor, David Wilson, testified that he saw Larson run from the trailer shortly before it was engulfed.
The jury returned its guilty verdict shortly after getting the case late Wednesday afternoon. The trial started Tuesday.
Larson faces up to 10 years in prison on the second degree arson conviction with the possibility of an additional 15 years being added on to that because of a habitual offender designation.
Larson had originally been charged with arson in the first degree. The charge was later amended to arson in the second degree when it was determined there was no threat to life since everyone got out of the trailer.
