PARIS — A grand jury has indicted a 34-year-old man suspected of setting fire to a Norway selectman’s house in 2007.

Robert G. Conrad of Western Avenue in Paris is charged with a single count of arson. He is accused of destroying the home of Robert Walker at 303 Country Club Road. Walker served as a selectman from 1998 to 2007, and announcer at Oxford Plains Speedway in Oxford for more than 30 years before retiring in 2006.

Conrad, a maintenance man who volunteered on the Oxford Fire Department about six or seven years ago, was arrested June 6 and released three days later on a pretrial supervised contract. He must have no contact with Walker, now 64; Walker’s 32-year-old daughter; and 31-year-old Tanya Stickney or her children. Conrad must not possess any dangerous weapons, must submit to random searches, undergo a mental health evaluation and counseling, and report to a case manager.

According to court documents, Conrad was suspected in the blaze on March 13, 2007,  because he and Walker’s daughter had recently broken up. Conrad was also suspected in an arson fire that caused about $15,000 damage to a house on Jenny Lane in Oxford.

Stickney, Conrad’s girlfriend, told investigators after that incident that she had witnessed Conrad setting the fire at Walker’s residence. She said she acted as the lookout when Conrad broke a window and set curtains on fire.

She said he threatened to kill her and her family if she told anyone about his involvement. Stickney wore a concealed recording device and tried to get Conrad to talk about the fires, but investigators stopped the sting after he became hostile. Walker identified several items of racing memorabilia found at Conrad’s parents’ house as having come from his residence.

An arson conviction carries a maximum prison sentence of 30 years.

mlangeveld@sunjournal.com

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