Arson case hinges on taped statement

A 31-year-old Carpentersville man admitted to setting cars and garbage cans on fire in fall 2006 shortly after his arrest, according to court testimony and an audiotape made by police.

"I am sorry for what I've done. I do realize that I have a problem," James E. Henry Jr. said on an audiotape played Tuesday during the second day of his trial.

Carpentersville police detective John Steinhable testified that he and fellow officers arrested Henry on Nov. 14, 2006.

Henry, of 7341 Grandview Court, had a police scanner in the front seat of his truck to listen to the fire calls and later admitted to setting numerous fires to leaf collection bags, garbage cans and cars across Carpentersville during a six-week span, Steinhable testified.

After officers let a withdrawn Henry have two cigarettes in the police station garage, Steinhable said, Henry told detectives about how he used crumbled newspapers and toilet paper rolls to start the fires.

"I told him it was probably the most difficult case I'd ever worked. (Henry's) whole attitude changed. He was more cheerful," Steinhable testified. "He told me I did a great job because he didn't think he'd ever get caught. He said it was a game and he didn't think he was going to get caught."

Brenda Willett, of the Kane County public defender's office, argued Steinhable didn't note Henry's change in demeanor in the police report. She also noted Henry denied setting the fires 40 to 50 times while in custody but police kept interrogating him for nearly three hours.

Henry has been held in the Kane County jail on $500,000 bail since his arrest on five counts of felony arson and 21 misdemeanor charges of damage to property. The most serious charge against him carries three to seven years in prison, but it could be increased based on his past criminal record.

In 1994, Henry was convicted of burglary and arson and sentenced to 30 months probation and fined $985, court records show. But in 1995, he was convicted of another burglary. As a result, his probation was revoked and he was sentenced to four years in prison, records show.

Henry's trial is expected to conclude today.