Couple charged with arson in house fire

Aug. 29--A Greene County couple is charged with burning down their rural Linton home earlier this month and attempting to defraud an insurance company of half a million dollars.

Jeremy S. Ferree, 42, is charged with arson and three counts of conspiracy to commit arson with intent to defraud. His wife, 40-year-old Crystal D. Ferree, is charged with one count of arson and one count of conspiracy to commit arson with intent to defraud. Both were booked into the Greene County Jail Tuesday on $30,000 bond each.

They got out of jail Wednesday after posting 10% of the bond amount and promising to appear in Greene Circuit Court for initial hearings on Sept. 4. Court records show that Jeremy Ferree filed for divorce in June.

Firefighters responded to the log home on West County Road 185 North at 3:30 a.m. on Aug. 4. A report filed by a state fire marshal's office investigator said the house was totally destroyed. Jeremy Ferree has a wood mill business nearby and built the log home where he, his wife and two children lived.

The investigator wrote that it would be difficult to pinpoint the cause of the fire, given that the log home burned to the ground, but he became suspicious when he found family photos and other valuables stored in a nearby garage. He said that the day after the fire, he learned from an insurance company investigator that the Ferrees had purchased a $600,000 policy for the house three weeks before the fire.

A review of text messages between the Ferrees also provided evidence the two may have conspired to burn down the house, the probable-cause affidavit said.

Contact Laura Lane at 812-331-4362 or email llane@heraldt.com.

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