Prosecutor: 'Simple Greed' Motive in Fire That Killed Firefighter

HAMILTON -- Butler County Prosecutor Michael Gmoser told jurors that a Hamilton man and his nephew conspired together for "pure greed" to set the fire that killed a Hamilton firefighter two years ago

In his opening statements to the jury, Gmoser outlined in meticulous detail how Lester Parker, 67, enlisted the help of his nephew, William "Billy" Tucker, 50, to set the fire in order to collect $250,000 in insurance on his Pater Avenue home on Dec. 28, 2015.

Parker and Tucker are each charged with aggravated arson and murder in the fire and death of Patrick Wolterman, the 28-year-old firefighter who fell through the first floor of the home as he stormed in thinking there was someone trapped inside.

"This was just supposed to be a simple insurance job,'' Gmoser told the jury of five women and seven men during his hour-long opening statement in Butler County Common Pleas Judge Greg Stephens courtroom. "Nobody was supposed to get killed ... they just didn't give it any thought."

Both men have pleaded not guilty in the case. Their lawyers told the jury that their clients are not guilty and the evidence will prove that.

"That was a remarkable story told by the prosecutor,'' said David Washington, who is Parker's lawyer. "Lester Parker had nothing to do with" setting the fire at his home.

Rather, he called the state's witnesses "pill heads and dope fiends." His client was in Las Vegas with his wife at the time of the fire, Washington told the jury.

But Gmoser told jurors that Parker was in deep financial trouble and conspired with Tucker to set the fire in exchange for pills.

Tucker's lawyer, Tamara Sack, told jurors she will provide an alibi for her client. She told jurors that he went to another address in Hamilton that evening to get pills from a woman and did not set the fire. She warned jurors, however, that that woman will deny that happened.

Before the opening statements, the 12 jurors and two alternate jurors were taken to the Pater Avenue home.

Wolterman's friends and family members as well as several Hamilton firefighters clad in dress uniform huddled outside the courtroom as the jury was shuttled to the home.

Several family members cried as Gmoser told jurors how Wolterman's mask fell off his face when he fell through the floor. Without his mask, his lungs filled with smoke and he died just minutes after entering the home.

Patch will continue to update this story through the trial.

Photo: The van that was parked outside the Butler County Courthouse to take jurors to the Pater Avenue home Tuesday morning. By Chris Graves

Chris Graves is an adjunct journalism professor at Miami University.