Weston fire defendants to be tried together

DAILY MAIL STAFF

A federal judge has ruled that all three defendants accused ofsetting a Weston house fire that killed five young children willstand trial together this fall in Wheeling. In light of a recentU.S. Supreme Court ruling, Ricky Brown, Barbara Brown and JanetteAbles no longer face the death penalty in connection to the Nov. 21,1997, blaze in the home they shared. But the trio still facesseveral federal charges.

All three are accused of arson, conspiracy and several counts ofmail fraud for allegedly setting the early morning fire in an effortto cash in on insurance policies on the house and three of thechildren.

When the death penalty charge of arson causing death still stood,U.S. District Judge Irene Keeley had ruled that the Browns and Ablesshould be tried separately. In light of the reduced penalty thethree could possibly face, Keeley has decided that they can be triedtogether.

In her order, Keeley stated that since the cases will now besubstantially the same, both in prosecution and defense, it would bethe best for all involved to combine them.

Ricky Brown was tried last November by a jury in Charlestonfederal court on 15 counts, including arson causing death.

Jurors couldn't reach a verdict on eight of the charges,including the death penalty count. He was acquitted of seven othermail fraud charges.

Keeley declared a mistrial on the eight deadlocked counts andordered that they be retried at a later date.

The tentative schedule for the new combined trial will involvepretrial hearings in August with jury selection to begin Sept. 12.

All the portions of the trial will take place in Wheeling. Thetrial was moved from Clarksburg because of strong public sentimentagainst the defendants and the difficulty in finding an impartialjury.

Writer Chris Stirewalt can be reached at 348-4824 or by e-mail atcstire@dailymail.com.