Game over for Carpentersville arsonist

James E. Henry Jr. told Carpentersville police his habit of lighting garbage cans on fire and burning cars in the fall 2006 around was a "game."

The 31-year-old Carpentersville man Wednesday lost the final round of his game when a Kane County jury took about 75 minutes to convict him of arson and criminal damage to property.

Henry, of 7341 Grandview Court, has been held at the Kane County jail since his arrest Nov. 14, 2006, and was stoic when the verdict was read.

Each of the four arson counts carries a three- to seven-year prison term, but he could be eligible for an extended sentence of seven to 14 years because of his past 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 But in 1995, he was convicted of another burglary, so his probation was revoked and he was sentenced to four years in prison, records show.

Judge Timothy Sheldon will decide Henry's sentence on Jan. 16.

Brenda Willett of the Kane County public defender's office argued that Carpentersville police did not have any physical evidence tying Henry to any of the fire scenes, and they didn't have any witnesses to him starting the fires. She also said police failed to save a videotape, albeit one without sound, of Henry's interrogation at the station.

Henry may have had his three lighters with him when he was arrested, but he also had two packs of cigarettes. Willett also noted that police put Henry's truck under GPS surveillance when he was at his girlfriend's house one night. The truck never moved that night, but another fire occurred, she said.

"There is no physical evidence to connect James to any of these scenes," Willett said. "They're trying to build something up from nothing."

Prosecutor Betsy Bellario argued that Henry was also arrested with a police radio scanner in his truck after he had driven a circular route through a subdivision. He also knew how each car fire was started -- by using newspapers and making sure a door was open so the fire could "breathe."

"Clearly, he knew what he was doing setting those fires," Bellario said.

Finally, Bellario said, Henry confessed after a detective told him the case was more difficult to solve than some murders and robberies. Henry saw it as a game; he would light fires and listen on his police scanner afterward, according to court testimony.

"I am sorry for what I've done. I do realize that I have a problem," Henry said on a police audiotape played during his three-day trial.