# Set a fire in a dorm, kill three people, get five years in prison

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/set-a-fire-in-a-dorm-kill-three-people-get-five-years-in-prison/389722>\
**Category:** The BBQ Pit\
**Created:** [January 27, 2007, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/set-a-fire-in-a-dorm-kill-three-people-get-five-years-in-prison/389722 "2007-01-27T14:23:10Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\
**Post date:** [January 27, 2007, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/set-a-fire-in-a-dorm-kill-three-people-get-five-years-in-prison/389722/1 "2007-01-27T14:23:10Z")

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[Site](http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkzJmZnYmVsN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk3MDY1NDIwJnlyaXJ5N2Y3MTdmN3ZxZWVFRXl5Mg==)

I didn’t believe this when I heard it on the news, and I still don’t believe the story in our local newspaper. The sentence for the two people who set the Seton Hall Fire, the worst dorm fire in history, killing three people, is five years with parole in 17 months.

How cheap is human life sometimes.

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**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\
**Post date:** [January 27, 2007, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/set-a-fire-in-a-dorm-kill-three-people-get-five-years-in-prison/389722/2 "2007-01-27T15:19:04Z")

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I wasn’t living in the US when this happened, so i’d never heard of it before.

That does seem a light sentence, considering the circumstances described in your link.

Even if the fire was an accident or a prank that got out of control, i think that there are some things so stupid that the death of other people is a reasonably-foreseeable consequence of the act, and the act should be punished accordingly.

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**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\
**Post date:** [January 27, 2007, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/set-a-fire-in-a-dorm-kill-three-people-get-five-years-in-prison/389722/3 "2007-01-27T16:14:04Z")

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The problem the prosecutors had was a serious lack of evidence. The whole case was built of circumstantial evidence along with unclear statements found on phone conversations after the police focused on the duo and got wiretap permissions on family phones.

I would guess that the prosecutor did not want to have spent six years and hundreds of thousands of dollars on a case only to watch the pair walk free if the defense was able to cast “reasonable doubt” on the claims for the prosecution.

From [this earlier story](http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2MDYmZmdiZWw3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTcwMDMyNTMmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXky), here were the possible charges related to the arson. (There were additional charges related to obstruction.):

> [@](#):
>
> Arson is a third-degree crime punishable by up to five years in prison. To win an arson conviction, prosecutors must prove someone intentionally started a fire that recklessly placed people or property in danger.
> 
> The more serious charge of aggravated arson carries a maximum prison term of 10 years. However, prosecutors must meet the more difficult burden of proving someone “purposely or knowingly” placed a person or building in danger.
> 
> The culprits also could be charged with felony murder because of the three deaths resulting from the arson. A conviction carries a minimum prison term of 30 years and the possibility of a life sentence.

[This story from 2003](http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2MDYmZmdiZWw3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTYzOTMxMzkmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXky) notes the difficulty of even building the case. (Later stories note that the defense moved to have the trial thrown out for improper behavior by the prosecutor even years before it came to trial–a move that was denied by the state Supreme Court.)

I have a tiny bit of sympathy (not much) for the original actions of a couple of scared kids who fled the scene. I have nothing but contempt for the young men who continued to deny any involvement right up until the point where they were actually going to have to go to trial.