‘Lengthy consecutive sentences’ sought for salon owner in deaths of 2 KC firefighters

Sept. 19--Prosecutors are recommending an 89-year prison term for the "serial arsonist" who set a fire in her nail salon that resulted in the deaths of two Kansas City firefighters.

Thu Hong Nguyen, 46, is scheduled to be sentenced Friday by Jackson Country Circuit Court judge Joel P. Fahnestock.

She was convicted of murder, arson and assault in the Oct. 12, 2015, fire in the 2600 block of Independence Boulevard that killed firefighters Larry Leggio and John Mesh. Two other firefighters were seriously wounded.

Prosecutors say several victims wish to testify at the sentencing hearing.

Nguyen was convicted on six separate counts and will receive a sentence on each. Prosecutors are asking the judge to make those sentences consecutive.

"The victims should not be marginalized through running the sentences concurrent," their pre-sentence memorandum said. "Lengthy consecutive sentences will address the individual, profound and tragic consequences that the defendant caused to all four primary victims, and also to their families, the KCFD and the community."

The sentencing memo says the suicide by firefighter Danny Rapp two months after the Independence Boulevard fire was partly caused by his distress over the deaths of his colleagues.

More than 100 firefighters responded to the three-alarm blaze that destroyed a building with businesses on the first floor and 16 apartments above. The fire caused the eastern brick wall of the building to collapse into an alley, killing Leggio and Mesh and seriously injuring firefighters Dan Werner and Chris Anderson.

Evidence at her trial showed that Nguyen ignited flammable liquids in a storeroom of her salon before leaving the building.

Nguyen was also convicted of arson at a previous nail salon in Lee's Summit. No one was injured in that 2013 fire.

"The motive for the defendant's crimes was greed," the prosecutors said.

The evidence showed that Nguyen, her son, her businesses and her boyfriend received a total of nearly $268,000 from 24 insurance payouts related to 16 separate incidents. Most of that was related to fires and an alleged burglary at five nail salons Nguyen was associated with.

"Her previous experience was that claims in the $40,000 neighborhood would be cursorily approved and wouldn't trigger a lengthy (and expensive) arson investigation," the prosecutors said. "So it was easy money."

Leggio, 43, was a second generation firefighter and a member of the Kansas City Fire Department for 17 years. Mesh, 39, had been with the department for 13 years.

Prosecutors say Nguyen remains unrepentant about their deaths.

"To date, she has not accepted responsibility for her deadly conduct, nor has she expressed a shred of remorse, publicly or privately," they said.

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