PARIS — A woman pleaded guilty Tuesday in Oxford County Superior Court to helping her mother burn down several buildings in Albany Township in August 2010.
Lisa Thurston, 38, of Gilead, pleaded guilty to arson, a Class A crime punishable by up to 40 years incarceration and a $50,000 fine.
Thurston’s attorney, Kelly McMorran, asked for a fact-finding investigation before her sentencing, due to mental health concerns.
According to police, Thurston’s 64-year-old mother, Joann Farris, had a falling out with her former friend George Sprague. She drove her daughter first to buy kerosene and then to land owned by Sprague with two log cabins, a maintenance building and two storage buildings.
Because Farris was unable to get out and set the fire herself, Thurston soaked the buildings with kerosene and lit the fire.
Assistant District Attorney Joseph O’Connor said Thurston reported the fire, concerned that it could spread to the forest. Investigator Daniel Young from the state Fire Marshal’s Office felt that Thurston’s story about where she was when she saw the flames didn’t add up. While he was questioning her she admitted she and her mother were responsible for the fire.
In December, Farris pleaded no contest and was sentenced to three years, all suspended, and will be on probation for four years. She was ordered to pay restitution to Sprague, for up to $70,000, which she had already been ordered to pay in a civil case.
Neither of the women is allowed any contact with Sprague.
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