Spokesman Review (Spokane, Washington)
A retired Los Angeles Fire Department battalion chief has been charged with burning a Spokane Valley company’s new office building in 2003.
Louis Keno Devarney Jr., 64, 1715 S. Stanley Lane, was arrested Thursday on suspicion of second-degree arson in the $400,000 destruction of a Spokane Rock Products office building that was under construction at 4418 E. Eighth Ave. The structure was rebuilt.
Houses had grown up around the company’s gravel pit, and court documents say Devarney was involved in a zoning dispute with the firm. Authorities had no leads until last month, when another retired Los Angeles battalion chief fingered Devarney.
The informer got his information from his wife, who got her information earlier this year from Devarney’s wife, according to an affidavit by Clifton Mehaffey, deputy fire marshal for the Spokane Valley Fire Department.
Mehaffey said Laurel Devarney confirmed that her husband confessed the arson to her on the night of the fire, when he came home dressed in black clothing, including a black hood. She said her husband collects weapons and has a history of depression.
The man who informed against Louis Devarney was “a very close friend” who consulted his church elders before calling authorities, according to Mehaffey. The man said he feared Devarney would kill someone if he set another fire.
Devarney, reportedly a former member of the Army Special Forces, was released Friday on $10,000 bail. He was ordered to surrender his pilot’s license and passport.