Randy Nethken appears in a booking photo. (Randolph County)
A West Virginia man was either unable or unwilling to clean up after the family’s newest addition – a puppy dog – made a mess inside, so he set his house on fire instead, authorities say.
Randy Nethken, 32, stands accused of one count of arson for setting his home alight after he became “upset with the puppy for defecating all over the house,” according to a criminal complaint.
The incident occurred on Oct. 7 at a residence on Ryan Run Road in Mabie, West Virginia – a tiny, unincorporated community in Randolph County, roughly two-and-a-half hours due south of Pittsburgh.
The West Virginia State Fire Marshal’s Office received the news of the fire via email, according to the complaint obtained by Clarksburg, West Virginia-based NBC/ABC affiliate WBOY. In the initial 911 call, Nethken allegedly told dispatchers the fire “originated in the attic.”
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Once there, fire marshals allegedly discovered a different source for the blaze in “what appeared to be burned drawers” found, not in the attic, but “toward the rear of the involved structure,” the complaint says.
“[T]here were multiple separate and distinct non-communicating fires involving the drawers,” Mountain State fire investigators determined, according to the complaint. “[Which] appeared to extend from the contents up the interior sides of each of the drawers.”
Further investigation determined that “one of the drawers had remaining burn patterns on the exterior side and back that did not line up with the other drawer,” which would indicate “these patterns were generated from another heat source,” fire marshals said, concluding multiple little fires had been set.
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Investigators say this happened throughout the house.
“At least three additional separate and distinct non-communicating fires in the bathroom vanity” had been set “where some female hygiene products were ignited,” according to the complaint.
Then, fire investigators finally made their way into the attic. There, they “observed three more separate and distinct non-communicating fires” found “just left of the scuttle entrance,” the complaint says, referring to a kind of attic entryway in the ceiling.
After the extensive investigation of the home, fire marshals interviewed the defendant once more.
“[C]onfronted with the remaining evidence,” Nethken admitted he “intentionally entered the attic willfully and intentionally utilized a match to set three fires,” the complaint alleges.
“[H]e set the fires in the bathroom because he was upset with the puppy for defecating all over the house,” the document continues.
After that, and apparently faced with the reality of what his feces-focused inferno had wrought, Nethken allegedly said he set up a GoFundMe “to help pay for the damage because they didn’t really have a lot of money,” according to the complaint. The fundraiser is not active.
The defendant is detained in the Tygart Valley Regional Jail on a $20,000 cash-only bond.
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