Alex Constantine - November 14, 2008
See: "DOCUMENTED: SIEGE OF ARSON FIRES IN CALIFORNIA"
Jury convicts man in Capay Valley fires
By Hudson Sangree
hsangree@sacbee.com
Oct. 29, 2008
A Capay Valley volunteer fire fighter accused of setting wildfires he later helped extinguish was convicted today of 14 felony counts, including 12 counts of arson.
Robert Eric Eason, 39, of Guinda, sat quietly beside his attorney as the verdicts were read. The 14 counts relate to fires in 2006, when investigators recorded movements of Eason's Ford Tempo via a satellite tracking device and roadside cameras. Those fires ranged from easy-to-extinguish small blazes, to a wind-driven inferno that charred 1,000 and killed more than 200 sheep in the agricultural valley.
Jurors said they were unable to reach verdicts on four other arson charges stemming from fires in 2005. Judge Stephen L. Mock declared a mistrial on those charges.
The judge revoked his bail today, and Eason was then returned to Yolo County Jail, where he'll await sentencing. ...
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