Two Men Accused of Arson and Murder in Firefighter Death Testify

By: Claire Williams

Miami University journal

The two men accused of setting the fire that killed a Hamilton firefighter two years ago denied involvement Monday when they each took the witness stand in their own defense.

Lester Parker, 67, and his nephew William “Billy” Tucker, 50, are each charged with aggravated arson and murder in the Dec. 28 2015 blaze at Parker's Pater Avenue home that killed Patrick Wolterman.

The 28-year-old firefighter died when he fell through the home's first floor and into the basement after he rushed into the burning two-story home believing people were trapped inside.

Prosecutors have painted a picture of a man who was so deeply in debt he conspired with his nephew to set the fire for insurance money. In exchange, prosecutors have said, he paid his nephew in prescription pain pills. They called Parker's daughters to testify earlier in the trial against their father.

Parker's older daughter testified that their father moved valuable items out of the home prior to the fire.

But Parker testified Monday said both his daughters, Melissa Lainhart-Jones, 44, and Cheryl Sullivan, 34, lied under oath.

“[Cheryl] said she was going to say what she had to say to keep her job,” Parker said of his younger daughter.

Lainhart-Jones testified that when serving time in a Butler County jail, her father paid her a visit. She told him about an EMT who was helping her in the jail's medical unit and the two got to talking about the fire and Wolterman's death. The EMT was visibly upset about the death.

Lainhart-Jones testified that after she recounted that conversation to her father, he told her to tell the EMT that “he didn’t mean for it to happen like that.”

Parker denied that conversation on the witness stand as the jury of five women and seven men looked on.

“Melissa is lying, I didn’t say that,” Parker testified.

When Butler County Prosecutor Michael Gmoser asked Parker why his daughters would lie, Parker said, “I don’t know.

“You probably told them to lie just like everyone else,” Parker continued.

Parker's Financial Struggles

During the course of his cross-examination, Gmoser also brought up the significant financial struggles Parker was facing and asked Parker if he knew that he had fire insurance on the house.

Parker testified that he did and the insurance company valued the house at $288,000.

David Washington asked Parker, his client, three separate times if he set the fire.

"Absolutely not,'' Parker testified.

'Going to hell in a hand basket'

Tucker, of Kentucky, admitted he lied to police during the investigation, but said his testimony Monday was the truth.

He said he was in Hamilton the fatal night of the fire, but told jurors he was there to buy pain pills from a woman and not to set his uncle's house on fire.

Under questioning from his lawyer Tamara Sack, Tucker said he roofed homes for a living but also sold pain pills and marijuana. When she asked him how he obtained the pills, he said he got them from his parents, Lainhart-Jones, who is his cousin, and also from Parker.

When she asked him about his financial situation, Tucker described it as “going to hell in a handbasket”.

Tucker testified that the reason he was in Hamilton the night of the fire was to meet Lainhart-Jones so that they could exchange pills.

Tucker said he first found out about the fire later in the day during a news report on television. Tucker testified he messaged Lainhart-Jones via Facebook asking “hey hun what the hell happened up there?”

He testifed that she never responded.

On cross examination, Gmoser asked Tucker why he lied to police when they asked him what he was in his uncle's neighborhood the night of the fire.

Tucker testified: “I didn’t want them to know I was getting pills."

Gmoser called Tucker a liar.

“Your method of operation is to cover your tracks and make up stories ... you were coming to Hamilton for a simple little insurance job," Gmoser said.

The trial will continue Tuesday in Butler County Common Pleas Court.