Warrenville man rejects probation offer in Palatine arson case
As his trial on residential arson charges drew to a close, a Warrenville man was offered probation in exchange for his guilty plea to the lesser charge of arson.
Richard Moss rejected the offer. He's charged with setting a fire in his former home on the 1000 block of Penny Lane in Palatine. No one was injured during the March 2016 fire.
Moss, 44, maintained his not guilty plea knowing that if Cook County Judge Joseph Cataldo finds him guilty of the more serious charge, he faces up to 15 years in prison, with a mandatory minimum of four years and no possibility of probation.
Moss' bench trial concluded Thursday with defense attorney Jack Quirk's insistence during closing arguments that enough reasonable doubt exists to acquit his client.
Quirk said no evidence links Moss to the fire, which a Palatine arson expert determined started in the basement utility room after someone ignited two mattresses. No witness saw him light the mattresses, Quirk said, and neither DNA nor fingerprints link Moss to a lighter found at the scene.
"There's not a scintilla of evidence that Mr. Moss was the instigator," Moss said.
Prosecutors disagreed.
"All the evidence points to the defendant as the one with the means, opportunity and motive" to start the fire, Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Paul Kiefer said during closing arguments in which he recalled testimony by Palatine arson expert Lt. Matthew Nagy, who eliminated appliances and utilities as the source of ignition and concluded the fire was intentionally set. A separate investigation by Moss' insurance company reached the same conclusion, Kiefer said, adding that Moss had a $1 million insurance policy on the house and filed a $1 million claim.
Kiefer described Moss, who was home alone at the time, as a man whose "life was in shambles."
Moss had been out of work for several years and suffered from several physical ailments, said Kiefer, adding that Moss told authorities he was going through a divorce, paying $6,000 per month in child support and a $3,000 monthly mortgage, and that the house was in foreclosure. Kiefer said Moss had argued with his girlfriend that day and when he tried to prevent her from driving away, she struck him with her car.
"This was not a sophisticated crime," said Kiefer. "It was a crime of emotion ... a reaction to an argument with the woman he loved."
Cataldo will announce his finding Friday.