Mount Carmel tenant convicted of setting house on fire

April 23--SUNBURY -- Tears and claims she falsely confessed to setting fire to her Mount Carmel home were not enough for 64-year-old Susan Stanley to escape a guilty verdict to the majority of the charges against her in a trial heard by a Northumberland County jury of 10 women and two men.

Following testimony that lasted from 9:15 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Friday, the jury found Stanley guilty of five felony counts of arson, a felony count of causing a catastrophe, a felony count of criminal mischief, a misdemeanor count of recklessly endangering another person and a misdemeanor count of possessing instruments of crime. The jury found her not guilty of one felony count of arson with the intent to collect insurance money.

The jury took about an hour to reach the verdict. President Judge Charles Saylor ordered a pre-sentence investigation to be completed within 90 days.

"I told them (borough police) what they wanted to hear," Stanley said while crying on the witness stand. "I did not do it."

Stanley was charged last year with setting fire to her home at 327 N. Maple St. on June 26 because the rent was being raised. Stanley allegedly admitted to officers that she set the fire on the last day she was allowed in the house by splashing gasoline around the basement before igniting a rag.

Public defender Peter Kay attempted to paint a scenario that not one witness could put Stanley at the scene and that Stanley is an older woman with a ninth-grade education who was manipulated by Cpl. David Donkochik and Lt. Chris Buhay into confessing to a crime she didn't commit.

Edward Agosto, the neighbor on the other side of Stanley's duplex at 325 N. Maple St. that also was damaged in the fire, testified that Stanley was upset with the landlord because he wanted her to clean up her side and also wanted to raise her rent. She had lived in the home for 15 years.

Matteo Loduca, the landlord, said he gave Stanley plenty of time to move out of the house, but that she decided to move out by June 27. He testified he couldn't get insurance for her side because it was so cluttered and considered a fire hazard.

There were no electrical or furnace problems, he testified.

Michael Mahnke testified that Stanley offered him $5,000 to set fire to the house, but he declined. His wife brought up the offer to police.

State police Fire Marshal Kirk Renn testified that he pinpointed the origin of the fire in the basement. It appeared that the fire had started in a box of trash that was ignited by gasoline. He found a gas can in the basement and a lighter next to the basement door.

Donkochik and Buhay testified they brought Stanley back to the borough police station for questioning. During the interview, they said she was asking hypothetical questions and brought up a "what if" scenario of her lighting a rag and throwing it into a box.

"We told her to let it out and tell us what happened," Donkochik said.

After she admitted to setting the fire, Donkochik said he gave her a hug and she said she felt better and was sorry for what she did.

Stanley testified that the officers brought up the details and continuously told her to confess.

"I kept telling them I didn't know," she said.

She denied ever seeking out Mahnke to burn down the house.

Stanley and Kay declined comment after the verdict was read.

Email Justin Strawser at jstrawser@ dailyitem.com. Follow him on Twitter @JustinLStrawser.

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