SALEM, Ore. (AP) - A Jefferson man has been sentenced seven years and three months in prison for starting a fire that set a duplex ablaze and killed his 81-year-old father.
The Statesman Journal reports (https://goo.gl/iHB7jV ) that John Anthony Duran’s sentencing Friday came one week after he pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter, reckless burning and three counts of reckless endangerment.
Marion County sheriff’s investigators said the 38-year-old Duran told them he was on a four-day methamphetamine binge when a chair in his room caught fire, starting the December 2014 fire, which killed his father, Candido Duran, and displaced three other people.
The defendant, handcuffed and dressed in a suit, declined to formally address the court, stating that his family advised him not to due to the presence of news organizations.
Candido Duran’s daughter, Rosa Duran-Perez, described her dad as a father of 10 who baled his own hay and was proud of passing a driving exam into his 80s.
___
Information from: Statesman Journal, https://www.statesmanjournal.com
Please read our comment policy before commenting.