Hamilton homeowner takes stand in firefighter murder trial

Dayton Daily News (OH)

Nov. 20--HAMILTON -- Hamilton homeowner Lester Parker took the stand Monday in his own defense in the arson and murder trial for the 2015 death of Hamilton firefighter Patrick Wolterman.

Parker, 68, and his nephew William "Billy" Tucker, 46, of Richmond, Ky., are charged with arson and murder in the fire at Parker's Pater Avenue home that killed Wolterman on Dec. 28, 2015.

Prosecutors say Parker was "under water" financially in the fall of 2015 and hatched a plan to set the house on fire for insurance money. Tucker agreed to light the fire in exchange for pain pills, according to prosecutors.

Parker and his wife, Bertha, left Hamilton on the afternoon of Dec. 27, 2015, and were in Las Vegas when fire consumed the residence at 1310 Pater Avenue during the early morning hours of Dec. 28.

Before leaving, Parker removed items he held dear from the house to the garage in anticipation of the fire, according to prosecutors. During trial, Parker's daughter, Cheryl Sullivan, testified that she noticed the items had been removed from the when she and her husband came to to give them a ride to the airport.

Parker, on Monday, said his daughter as well as her husband lied.

"Probably because you told him to, like you told everyone else to," Parker said to Butler County Prosecutor Michael Gmoser during cross examination when asked why the couple would have lied during their testimony.

Parker said he was using the garage as an office in December 2015, but moved the items back into the house so his other daughter, Melissa Lainhart-Jones, could move in. On Christmas Eve 2015, Parker said he moved the items back into garage because he needed room for a family gathering.

The actions had nothing to do with anticipation of the fire, he said.

When defense attorney David Washington asked Parker about his financial situation in December 2015, he said he was behind a couple payments behind, but "not in dire straits."

Washington asked Parker if he set fire to his house

"No," he answered.

Did you hire someone else to set fire to your house?" Washington asked Parker.

"Absolutely not," was Parker's answer.

Parker said he was never told what caused the fire at 1310 Pater.

"It could have been anything," Parker said.

Tucker is also expected to testify in his own defense.

Wolterman died when he fell through the home's first floor while fighting the blaze.

The fire was discovered by a police officer investigating a burglar alarm, according to police and fire scanner traffic reviewed by the Journal-News.

The officer also found an open door at the house.

The alarm in the home alerted police dispatchers at about 1 a.m. A police officer responded minutes later and reported heavy smoke coming from the two-story house.

"Heavy smoke coming out of it ... too heavy to get close," the officer says in scanner chatter.

A dispatcher also says they have a report of a fire at 1310 Pater Ave. In a 911 call released by the Butler County Sheriff's Office, a man who said he was across the street at a church, said, "something is on fire."

The officer tells the dispatcher there may be an "old man and woman" who live in the home.

At 1:13 a.m., the police officer tells the dispatcher, "there is heavy smoke coming from the cellar. There is an open cellar door in the back."

At about 2:36 a.m., after Wolterman was rushed to Fort Hamilton Hospital and additional fire units were called to assist, a police officer asked the dispatcher exactly where the alarm had detected motion. Her answer was, "dining room, front door and rear door times two."

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