A Belleville man who was originally charged with arson and indignity to a body, following an incident on Bridge Street East last summer, is set to be sentenced in early June.
The 36-year-old was arrested on the morning of July 11, 2020 after a couple that was jogging in the area noticed a small fire at the house and a 72-year-old man was found dead at the scene.
According to court documents the accused has a history of drug dependency and had stopped taking his medication.
He told investigators that the victim, his father, had died a couple of days earlier and he was trying to move the body inside the house, then planned to burn it down and kill himself as well.
The accused, whose name is protected by a publication ban, pleaded guilty on April 15 to mischief under $5,000 and failing to report a death.
He’ll be sentenced on June 3, once a pre-sentence report is completed.
A cause of the 72-year-old’s death couldn’t be determined through an autopsy, but records show the victim did have an underlying heart condition and there is no reason to believe he died from anything other than natural causes.
