By Brian Burnes and Glenn E. Rice
The Kansas City Star
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Kansas City woman accused of second-degree murder in the October fire that killed two firefighters now faces additional charges, prosecutors announced Friday.
A grand jury indicted Thu Hong Nguyen, 43, this week on the three original charges and three new ones: causing catastrophe and two counts of second-degree assault.
She allegedly set the Oct. 12 fire that destroyed the half-block-long building where she ran a nail salon in the 2600 block of Independence Boulevard.
Kansas City firefighters Larry Leggio and John Mesh died when an exterior wall collapsed as they stood in an alley trying to prevent the flames from spreading to a nearby building. Two firefighters standing near them sustained serious injuries. The new assault charges were brought because of those injuries, according to court records.
If convicted of the causing a catastrophe charge, Nyguen would face 10 to 30 years in prison -- the same sentencing range for convictions on second-degree murder.
The new felony assault charges stem from interviews conducted Wednesday with injured firefighters Chris Anderson and Dan Werner by a special agent with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
According to court records:
Anderson was buried under about four feet of brick and other debris when the building’s east wall collapsed. He sustained a mild traumatic brain injury with ongoing symptoms of post-concussion syndrome. He also sustained four broken ribs and nerve damage along the left side of his rib-cage. He continues to fight an intestinal infection not present before the fire.
Falling debris buried Werner up to his waist. Werner, who was standing only a few feet from firefighter Mesh when the collapse occurred, sustained a dislocated ankle, five fractures in his lower legs, a laceration to the head and a concussion.
Nguyen is being held in lieu of a $2 million cash bond. She has pleaded not guilty to arson and two counts of second-degree murder. Her attorney, Bill Shull, said Friday he had not seen the indictment. He declined comment on it.
Nguyen allegedly set the fire in a storeroom in a nail salon she owned on the ground floor of the building. Court documents say she was the last person to leave the salon the night of the fire.
Property damage from the fire totaled more than $2 million. Twenty-six apartment residents and five businesses were displaced.
At least 18 firefighters were inside the building when an evacuation order was given just minutes before the wall collapse killed Leggio and Mesh and seriously injured the two others.
Before the collapse, firefighters rescued two residents from the upper floors of the building.
Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker has said Nguyen’s motive was greed for insurance proceeds.
Court documents also associate Nguyen with two previous fires and said she told investigators she had received insurance money from those fires. But her attorney, Bill Shull, has said she did not receive any insurance money.
One of those fires occurred in July 2013 at a nail salon at 410 S.W. Ward Road in Lee’s Summit where Nguyen worked.
Court documents say Nguyen told investigators that on the day of the October fire, she went to a nail supply store and purchased four bottles of acetone and four bottles of isopropyl alcohol, both of which are flammable liquids.
Nguyen has a court appearance scheduled Monday.
___
(c)2016 The Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Mo.)
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.