OWATONNA — A prosecutor on Monday questioned inconsistencies in statements by the wife of the Ellendale man charged with intentionally burning his house down in December 2011.

On the stand as the only defense witness, Sara Ellen Degen-Misgen, 41, said she did not witness her husband, Mark Allen Misgen, 43, start the fire at the family’s house, 403 W. Fifth Ave., that ultimately led to its destruction.

Degen-Misgen went through a timeline of where she was on Dec. 6 and Dec. 7, 2011, in the time leading up to the blaze.

She said she, her husband and four children arrived back at the house together close to 2 a.m. Dec. 7, 2011, when her husband went inside to turn on the lights and open doors before they took the children in. He came out of the house “in a panic,” she said, and called 911 when he found a fire.

Degen-Misgen said she took her children to her mother-in-law’s house about five minutes away and then came back to her own home.

Ellendale firefighters came to the house, and she said she and and her husband left at 3 a.m. after firefighters cleared the scene. That fire appeared to have started from Ramen noodles that were left on the stove.

She testified she and her husband left in her black Buick Rendezvous and went to her mother-in-law’s house, visited for a few minutes with her and then went to sleep.

Steele County Attorney Dan McIntosh questioned why Degen-Misgen’s statement Monday was different than a statement she submitted to her insurance company as a proof of loss that indicated she and Misgen switched their black car at her father-in-laws house with Misgen’s gold Daewoo before returning to her mother-in-law’s.

McIntosh also questioned cellphone records that showed that Degen-Misgen received a text message from her mother-in-law at 3:34 a.m. He wondered why she would have received a text message from her if they would have already been at her house.

The second fire, in which the house was fully engulfed, was reported at 3:53 a.m.

Degen-Misgen said text messages sometimes come through late and did not have an explanation for that message.

Degen-Misgen said she had purchased isopropyl alcohol at the Walmart in Owatonna late Dec. 6, 2011, as a heat source for her husband’s pickup, which was not starting. She said by the time she got back to Misgen, he had the pickup started and she left the alcohol on a picnic table.

Prosecutors have asked questions throughout the trial about whether isopropyl alcohol could be used as an accelerant in a fire.

Degen-Misgen said she and Misgen have been married for 17 years.

She said her wedding pictures and pictures of the children burned in the blaze, along with Christmas presents she and her husband had purchased in advance of the holiday, only a few weeks later.

Last week, she pleaded guilty to issuing a dishonored check for check kiting with their accounts. In exchange, her own charges tied to the fire were dismissed.

Closing arguments are expected this morning after which the jury will begin deliberations.