Couple convicted in fire death

By Chelsi Moy

Tribune Staff Writer

A couple accused of setting fire to a home on the Fort Belknap Reservation that killed a 15-year-old Lodgepole girl sleeping inside, was found guilty of first degree murder Thursday in Great Falls.

After deliberating for three and a half hours, the 12-member jury convicted Kenneth Arcand, 20, and his common-law wife, Bobbi Jo Wing, 25, of killing Angel Denny by setting fire to the home they occupied a mile southeast of Lodgepole in the southeastern corner of the reservation.

U.S. Marshals took the couple into custody as the three-day federal murder trial ended. First degree murder carries a mandatory life sentence.

Denny, a junior honor-roll student at Hays-Lodgepole High School and also Wing's cousin, was sleeping in an upstairs bedroom at the time of the blaze. She died of smoke inhalation six days before her 16th birthday.

At the heart of the case are statements Wing and Arcand gave to FBI agents nearly a month after the April 9 fire.

Prosecutors relied heavily on the written statements and a question-and-answer form, in which Wing and Arcand provided answers to questions such as, "how and why did you start the fire?"

During closing arguments Thursday morning, defense attorneys claimed FBI agents threatened and coerced Wing and Arcand into making false confessions after requesting a lawyer.

Before the trial, the defense attempted to suppress the statements but U.S. District Judge Sam Haddon denied the request.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lori Harper-Suek argued the statements were not false declarations of guilt because they provided details, such as where the fire originated, matching the burn patterns reported by state fire investigators.

"Is it just a coincidence that the defendant's statements match the evidence?" Harper-Suek asked the jury.

Dick Swingley, a state fire marshal, testified Tuesday that he could not determine the origin or cause of the fire.

On April 9, a birthday party at the residence on Little Chief Canyon Road turned violent after family members argued over who owned the home.

One family member claimed to own the land; another claimed to own the house.

At one point during the evening, witnesses testified, Wing's mother, Hannah Has The Eagle, walked into the home, screamed she was going to burn down the house and threw a lighted newspaper onto a nearby sofa, defense attorney Tony Gallagher said.

Arcand's attorney told the jury that Wing falsely confessed to the crime to protect her family.

"(Arcand) told (Wing) he would not let her go alone," said Arcand's defense attorney, Michael Cotter. "It's clear these two young kids have taken the fall for Hannah."

Wing, of Dodson, and Arcand, of Chinook, were living at the residence at the time in order to fix it up, said Gallagher.

He claimed the house didn't even have running water at the time of the fire.

The old house burned fast, but heroic attempts were made to retrieve Denny from the house, Harper-Suek said.

Swingley testified Denny's body was burned beyond recognition.

Nonetheless, prosecutors convinced the jury Arcand and Wing started the fire regardless of whether the couple intentionally meant to harm Denny.

"Sort of like a one-way bus ticket," Harper-Suek said. "You get on and there is not stops in between."

A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Feb. 13, 2006.

The couple also were charged with felony arson; that charge was severed from the first degree murder charge, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Carl Rostad.

Prosecutors will decide later whether to pursue that charge.