The Ohio County Sheriff's Office has made an arrest in an arson case. This case has spanned over two years and involves over 20 arson incidents, burglary and criminal mischief.

Here is the official press release from the Ohio County Sheriff's Office:

Here at the Ohio County Sheriff’s office I am dedicated to serving our citizens and protecting life and property. As the OC Sheriff, it is very important that we continue to investigate current crimes as well as our on-going cases.

Today I am pleased to announce that we have made an arrest on a case that started over two years ago. This arrest involves numerous incidents of arson, burglary and criminal mischief.

There have been over twenty structure fires throughout Ohio County during this two year period. Ohio County Investigators Detective Sergeant Tim Hatfield and Detective John Castello brought in KY state police Arson investigator Detective Mike Smith and Deputy State Fire Marshall Phil Fogle during their investigation to utilize state expertise in arson investigation.

As a combined effort, this investigation has now produced an arrest.

Elmer E Duncan has been arrested on 20 separate Arson 2nd Degree cases, one count of Burglary 3rd Degree and 2 counts of Criminal mischief.

The string of arsons occurred between November 2012 and December 2014. The arsons involved mostly abandoned homes and barns. Thankfully, no injuries occurred during the crimes. The majority of the arsons occurred in Chiggerville, Echols, Rockport, Centertown, Beaver Dam, Hartford and Magan. Duncan was developed as a suspect in December of 2013. During the next year detectives continued to gather evidence until Duncan was connected to the arsons in December of 2014. On January 26, 2015 detectives pulled Duncan in for questioning. After questioning, detectives presented the Ohio County Attorney with the listed charges.

KRS Arson 2nd Degree: A person is guilty of arson in the second degree when he starts a fire with the intent to destroy or damage a building.

Arson 2nd Degree is a class B felony which carries a sentence of 10-20 years per count.

KRS Burglary 3rd Degree: A person is guilty of 3rd when, with intent to commit a crime, he knowingly enters a building.

Burglary 3rd degree is a Class D Felony which carries a sentence of 1 to 5 years.

Ohio County Sheriff's Office, Facebook
Ohio County Sheriff's Office, Facebook
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