Jury quickly convicts man in 2019 Ligonier Township arson case

It took a Westmoreland County jury an hour Friday to convict a man of burning his Ligonier Township home last year.

Brian W. McVicker, 55, of Laughlintown was found guilty of felony arson as well as risking catastrophe and criminal mischief in connection with a fire at a home he lived in rent-free in exchange for caretaker duties at the nearby Washington Furnace Inn on Route 30.

Police said McVicker ignited the Jan. 15, 2019, blaze inside the two-story, century-old home then barged into a neighbor’s house and deployed a fire extinguisher as he claimed he was being threatened by unnamed people.

“Mr. McVicker originally faced numerous charges. We respect the jury’s verdict,” defense attorney Tim Andrews said.

The jury acquitted McVicker of one arson count. A charge of burglary was dismissed during the trial, and related trespassing and drug counts were dropped before the jury was seated in the case.

Westmoreland County Common Pleas Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio rejected a defense request to immediately sentence McVicker to time served and release him from jail, where he has been held since his arrest the night of the fire.

Bilik-DeFazio said she first wanted to review a pre-sentence investigation, which can take up to three months to complete.

Assistant District Attorney Katie Ranker said McVicker faces up to 20 years in prison for the arson offense.

Prosecutors during the three-day trial said McVicker set the fire inside of the home behind the shuttered bar about two months after its owner put the property, which included the business and the home, up for sale.

In her closing argument to jurors, Ranker said investigators determined the fire was intentionally set but conceded they could not explain specifically how it was started. McVicker’s own admissions to police and a passerby were sufficient evidence to warrant a conviction, she argued.

“He needs to be held responsible for this,” Ranker said. “This could have been so much worse than it was if there weren’t so many firefighters there to put it out.”

Jurors viewed a series of statements McVicker gave to police in which he admitted to setting the fire, including several comments that were recorded on video while he sat alone handcuffed in a police cruiser as crews attempted to extinguish the blaze.

Andrews argued for not guilty verdicts, saying McVicker’s admission could not be believed and that there was not enough evidence to adequately prove the fire was intentionally set.

“The commonwealth is relying on Mr. McVicker to prove he intentionally started this fire. How do they do that? I submit it’s because he said he did,” Andrews said.