A couple convicted of starting their house on fire was sentenced Friday for arson and aiding and abetting arson.

Thursday, January 18, 2001

A couple convicted of starting their house on fire was sentenced Friday for arson and aiding and abetting arson.

Both were sentenced to 18 months in jail and a $3,000 fine, stayed provided they follow the terms of their probation agreements. They will remain on probation for up to seven years.

Daniel Thomas Wear, 40, pleaded guilty on Nov. 1 to second-degree arson. He will serve 120 days in the Freeborn County Jail with credit for time served. During probation he cannot drink or enter an establishment that serves alcoholic beverages. He will be subject to random alcohol testing.

Francine Ann Wear, 39, pleaded guilty on Nov. 1 to aiding and abetting arson in the second degree. She was sentenced to serve 160 hours of community service.

As part of their probation agreements, both must get and retain employment, obtain psychological evaluations and follow all recommendations, possess no accelerants for illegal purposes, and be subject to annual fire inspections of their residence.

The Wears were jointly ordered to pay restitution in the amounts of: $4,506 to the City of Albert Lea; $28,595.41 and $8,973.11 to North Star Companies, provided they do not object within 60 days.

The Wears’ home at 1413 Circle Drive caught fire on Sept. 30, 1999. Someone apparently poured gasoline into furnace ducts to start a fire that would appear to have been caused by a faulty or dusty furnace. Samples taken from furnace ducts in the home tested positive for gasoline, police said. Investigators ruled the furnace out as a possible cause of the fire because it was new and too far from the points of origin, police said.

The fire could not have been accidental because there were several points of origin, investigators said. In addition, the descriptions the Wears gave of their activity prior to the fire could not have caused the blaze, they said.