Photo: James Jefferson White
A Marion County man, 46-year-old James Jefferson White of Yellville, has been charged in connection with a fire in 2015 that destroyed a home he owned and was occupied by a woman and her children. White was booked into the Marion County jail Nov. 12, according to the Marion County Sheriff’s Department’s online inmate roster.
According to the probable cause affidavit filed , White is charged with a single felony count of arson and five counts of aggravated assault.
On the evening of Oct. 2, 2015, emergency personnel responded to a fully-engulfed house fire at 389 MC 3051 in the Pyatt area.
The woman residing in the home was identified as White’s estranged fiancee.
The residence was considered a complete loss, with the fire extinguished at the foundation line.
The five occupants in the home were alerted to the blaze by a loud popping sound coming from the carport area discovered on fire. White was reportedly seen running from the carport area.
A Pyatt school official reported a child residing in the home had advised White had made several threats to burning the residence while its occupants were sleeping inside.
A Marion County Sheriff’s Office deputy returned to the scene of the fire the following day and discovered an outbuilding and a camper completely burned. The items were reportedly not burned the previous evening, according to the responding fire department.
The deputy also discovered the well/pump house did not have electrical power, with the wiring to the building having been cut. The woman occupying the burned home told the deputy White had cut power to the building the prior month as a way of trying to get her and her children out of the residence.
White’s bond was set at $25,000. Online court documents indicate he entered a not guilty plea Wednesday in Marion County Circuit Court.
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI