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An investigation into the theft of property from a Nebo home led to the owners’ son-in-law, who authorities say also set fire to the residence on four occasions.
Fire Investigator Craig Walker of McDowell County Emergency Management charged Robert Shane Hughes, 27, of Cooper Drive in Nebo, with four felony counts of first-degree arson.
Detective Billie Brown of the McDowell County Sheriff’s Office charged Hughes with felony obtaining property by false pretense and misdemeanor larceny.
Sheriff’s deputies were investigating the theft of $700 worth of property – a banjo, a computer and a camcorder – from the home of Roger Dale Ledford, of Cooper Drive in Nebo, which was reported on Tuesday, Oct. 27.
That investigation led to Hughes, who was living in the home with his wife and her parents.
Further examination revealed that Hughes set fire in the attic of the house twice on Nov. 21 and once each on Nov. 25 and Nov. 27.
“The fire department was called out to this residence four times,” said Walker. “Each time, small fires had been set in the attic.”
Damage to the house was estimated at $60,000.
Hughes was convicted in Mitchell County in 2008 of four counts of setting fire to woods, lands or fields.