Man charged in arson case gets public defender
A former Waukegan mayoral candidate charged with arson locally and in Canada had the Lake County public defender’s office appointed to represent him Friday.
Gregory Flesher, 48, is accused of burning down a former Salvation Army store in Waukegan and of starting a fire in an Ontario apartment building that killed a 48-year-old woman.
Flesher, who ran for Waukegan mayor in 2009 and finished a distant third, told Associate Judge Raymond Collins on Friday that he could not afford to hire his own attorney.
Flesher said he makes about $1,200 per month working part time as a plasterer and does not own his own home.
Authorities say he used gasoline and fireworks to start a May 4 fire that destroyed the former Salvation Army resale store at 133 S. Genesse St.
In addition, he is charged with attempted arson and criminal damage to property for attempting to set a fire in a building at 224 Washington St. in Waukegan on May 11, authorities said.
Canadian authorities in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, have charged Flesher with arson and murder in a May 19 fire that burned a four-unit building and killed tenant Leeanne Elizabeth Hill.
When they arrested Flesher on Sept. 13, Waukegan police said Flesher had left the Waukegan area shortly after the May 11 fire and returned here the day after the Sault Ste. Marie blaze.
Waukegan police worked with their Canadian counterparts in bringing both cases to a conclusion, officials said.
Flesher is held in the Lake County jail on $2.5 million bail, and Assistant State’s Attorney Ken Lorenz said Friday that Canadian officials have not yet filed for Flesher’s extradition.
Flesher is due to appear in court Oct. 17 and faces up to 21 years in prison if convicted in both local cases.