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German man convicted of setting dozens of
fires in Los Angeles area
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 [September 02, 2016]
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A German
national dubbed the "Hollywood Arsonist" was found guilty on Thursday of
setting dozens of fires in the Los Angeles area nearly five years ago,
prosecutors said.
Los Angeles County Superior Court jurors found Harry Burkhart, 29,
guilty of 25 counts of arson of property, 18 counts of arson of an
inhabited dwelling and other charges including possession of an
incendiary device, the local district attorney's office said in a
statement.
Burkhart faces a possible sentence of more than 88 years in prison, the
statement said.
The trial began on Aug. 15, and after closing arguments on Wednesday
jurors deliberated for less than a day before returning their verdict.
At the trial's opening statements, a prosecutor told jurors that
Burkhart lit the fires because he was enraged by the deportation hearing
of his Russian-born mother, Dorothee Burkhart, who was ordered to be
extradited to Germany to face criminal charges.
Burkhart set more than 40 fires in the Los Angeles neighborhoods of
Hollywood and the San Fernando Valley and in nearby West Hollywood
between Dec. 30, 2011, and his arrest on Jan. 2, 2012, prosecutors said.
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Harry Burkhart, 24, is detained by the Los Angeles county sheriff's
department on suspicion of setting dozens of fires across Los
Angeles, in West Hollywood, California, U.S. January 2, 2012.
REUTERS/Gene Blevins/File Photo
The blazes charred cars and homes, causing an estimated $3 million
in damages, but caused no deaths.
(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Leslie Adler)
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