Two charged in 2018 Montgomery house explosion

May 29—MONTGOMERY — The owners of a vacant rental house in Montgomery are accused of hiring someone to burn it down so they could collect insurance money.

An explosion destroyed the suspects' house and damaged a neighboring residence in 2018. Two people who knew the homeowners reported before the fire they believed the suspects were going to burn down the house. The person suspected of starting the fire died before an investigation was completed.

Christopher Dennis Hale, 32, and Isabella Nan Jacobs Hale, 29, both of rural Lakeville, were charged with felony counts of insurance fraud and conspiracy to commit arson Friday in Le Sueur County District Court.

According to the court complaint and a news release from the Le Sueur County Sheriff's Office:

The Hales' rental home at 104 Third St. SW was engulfed in flames following an explosion on the night of July 17, 2018. An adjacent residence also was heavily damaged.

An investigator with the State Fire Marshal's Office ruled the explosion and fire were caused by arson. He found evidence gasoline or another flammable liquid had been poured in the home. A gas leak and appliance malfunction were ruled out as causes.

A man and a woman who were renting a different home from the Hales had reported to the Montgomery Police Department in late June they suspected Christopher Hale was intending to burn down the house.

Investigators obtained more information from the tipsters after the fire. They said the Hales asked them to move to the Third Street house but they declined. Christopher Hale reportedly told them he was having financial problems and planned to burn down the house and threatened to shoot one of them if they told anyone.

The tipsters said they were later asked to come to the Third Street house and they helped the Hales bring wood pallets and old furniture into the house and place coverings on the windows. Kyle Dague, who worked for Christopher Hale's Minnesota Kitchens remodeling company, also was there and was cutting holes into the floors and walls.

The Hales were out of the state when the fire occurred and Christopher Hale denied they were involved.

Investigators believe Dague was hired to start the fire. Dague was treated at an emergency room in Burnsville around the time of the fire with multiple cuts that could have been caused by an explosion.

Dague died in California in 2020.

Meanwhile Christopher Hale submitted an insurance claim for $365,000 for the house and property inside.

An insurance agent told investigators Christopher Hale contacted her about obtaining insurance for the house in April 2018 and asked how much he would be paid if the house burned down.

The agent advised she could not insure the home if it was vacant and it first needed roof repairs. The Hales gave the agent a forged invoice for roof repairs. They also provided a lease agreement on which the signature of one of the tipsters had been forged. The Hales later told the agent they were moving into the house themselves.

Investigators eventually searched the Hale home and found two pieces of furniture and a wood carving that matched the detailed descriptions of items the Hales had claimed were in the Montgomery house in the fire.

Christopher Hale submitted insurance claims for nearly $44,000 worth of property reportedly destroyed by the fire. The fire marshal investigator believed the house was vacant because there appeared to have been little property inside.

The Hales are not in custody and have been summoned to make a first court appearance in July.

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