After roughly two and a half hours of deliberation, a jury found Patricia “Patty” Groves guilty of aggravated arson and insurance fraud Wednesday afternoon.
Groves, 58, of Perrysburg, was charged with the Dec. 20, 2011 fire at her Downey Daisy Home Services business on North Dixie Highway in Rossford.
The aggravated arson charge is a first-degree felony which carries up to 10 years in prison. The insurance fraud is a fourth-degree offense.
Following the verdict, some of the jurors said the biggest factor for them is that there was no one else who could have started the fire.
During the trial, testimony revealed that Groves after learning of a smaller fire over the previous weekend was watching her business from the parking lot from 4:30 a.m. that Tuesday until she reported the fire after 6 a.m.
“There was no one else,” one juror stated.
The foreperson, who asked only to be identified as Juror 14, added, “If she was there from 4:30 until the fire was started, she would have seen who was there.”
Groves, 58, of Perrysburg, was charged with the Dec. 20, 2011 fire at her Downey Daisy Home Services business on North Dixie Highway in Rossford.
The aggravated arson charge is a first-degree felony which carries up to 10 years in prison. The insurance fraud is a fourth-degree offense.
Following the verdict, some of the jurors said the biggest factor for them is that there was no one else who could have started the fire.
During the trial, testimony revealed that Groves after learning of a smaller fire over the previous weekend was watching her business from the parking lot from 4:30 a.m. that Tuesday until she reported the fire after 6 a.m.
“There was no one else,” one juror stated.
The foreperson, who asked only to be identified as Juror 14, added, “If she was there from 4:30 until the fire was started, she would have seen who was there.”