FARMINGTON – A Wilton man on trial for setting two fires that destroyed structures in Wilton and Carthage, pleaded guilty Tuesday morning to planning to commit the arson in Wilton.
Before the trial began, D’Kota Rowe, 21 of Wilton, admitted he planned to set fire to a Main Street building on June 27, 2015. That fire didn’t occur, instead, a double-wide mobile home on Sewall Street in Wilton was burned and later a cabin in Carthage. He pleaded guilty to Class B felony criminal conspiracy in the arson case.
Two of the three other men involved in the arson cases, Duane Bailey, 28 of Carver, Mass. and Devon J. Pease, 23 of Jay, have pleaded guilty for their roles in the fires and other burglary and theft crimes. The third man is Einer Bonilla, 22 of Grand Island, Neb.
Rowe is charged, in addition to the felony conspiracy he admitted to, with four Class A felony counts of arson. The state’s Fire Marshal’s Office conducted an investigation into suspicious fires that destroyed the mobile home in Wilton and a log cabin on Winter Hill Road in Carthage the same night.
Investigators believe that all four men were involved with the first fire in Wilton, while Bailey, Bonilla and Rowe were charged in connection with the second fire in Carthage.
According to Assistant District Attorney Joshua Robbins in Franklin County Superior Court on Tuesday, the Wilton fire was set after barking dogs prevented the defendants from burning a Wilton Main Street residence that belonged to a man with whom Rowe had a disagreement with.
Earlier in the evening, after a gas can was picked up at Pease’s house, the men drove to a gas station. Bailey tried to fill the gas can but was too drunk. Rowe then helped full the can with gasoline, Robbins said. The four men drove to Wilton and parked near the targeted house. Pease and Rowe stayed in the car while Bailey and Bonilla took the gas can to start the structure on fire but barking dogs scared them off.
Instead, Bailey, Bonilla and Pease admitted that led the men to burn down a nearby house on Sewall Street in a bid to have the fire spread onto the Main Street resident’s property.
Pease was dropped off before the three men, Rowe, Bailey and Bonilla, went to burn down the Carthage cabin. Both fires were started by pouring gasoline around the structure and lighting it.
Justice William Stokes delayed sentencing on Rowe’s felony conspiracy plea until the conclusion of the jury-waived trial.
Defense attorney Christopher Berryment asked in his opening statement, “can the state prove Mr. Rowe put gas on the trailer, poured gas on the cabin? Did he light the fire?” He added the state’s case is relying on the credibility of Bailey’s testimony.
“There’s a theory of innocence that is reasonable and will find Mr. Rowe not guilty,” Berryment said. Prosecutor Robbins didn’t make an opening statement. Investigator Kenneth McMaster of the state’s Fire Marshal’s Office was called as the first witness.
A recent story describing the sentencing of two of the men involved can be read here.
