Current:Home > MarketsWisconsin man gets 15 year prison sentence for 2022 building fire that killed 2 people-InfoLens
Wisconsin man gets 15 year prison sentence for 2022 building fire that killed 2 people
View Date:2024-12-23 14:26:55
STURGEON BAY, Wis. (AP) — A man convicted of reckless homicide for starting a 2022 fire that killed two people when it destroyed a Wisconsin building housing a bar and rented rooms has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.
A judge also sentenced Anthony Gonzalez, 60, on Friday to 15 years of extended supervision for the fire at Butch’s Bar and the building’s upstairs apartments, the Appleton Post-Crescent reported.
The February 2022 fire killed two tenants who lived above the Sturgeon Bay bar, Victor Jurss and Gary Heise, and seriously injured a third tenant. Gonzalez told investigators he accidentally started the fire in his room above the bar when he was trying to refill a cigarette lighter.
His attorney argued that the building lacked fire safety equipment and said Gonzalez wasn’t reckless because he tried to extinguish the fire and knocked other tenants’ doors to alert them to the fire.
A jury convicted Gonzalez in January of two counts of second-degree reckless homicide and five counts of second-degree recklessly endangering safety. His attorney has said she plans to appeal the verdict.
Door County Judge D. Todd Ehlers said during Friday’s sentencing that Gonzalez has blamed others both for the fire and his convictions and that he has shown a lack of remorse.
Sturgeon Bay is located along Lake Michigan about 45 miles (70 kilometers) northeast of Green Bay.
veryGood! (52)
Related
- Stop What You're Doing—Moo Deng Just Dropped Her First Single
- Watch: Orlando, Florida police officers save driver trapped in a car as it submerges in pond
- Colts let down QB Anthony Richardson in NFL preseason debut vs. Bills
- What did a small-town family do with a $1.586 billion Powerball win?
- 'Devastation is absolutely heartbreaking' from Southern California wildfire
- Jeff Bezos reportedly buys $68 million home in Miami's billionaire bunker. Tom Brady and Ivanka Trump will be his neighbors.
- EPA Overrules Texas Plan to Reduce Haze From Air Pollution at National Parks
- Seattle Mariners fan surprises Félix Hernández at team's Hall of Fame ceremony
- Diamond Sports Group will offer single-game pricing to stream NBA and NHL games starting next month
- Pilot and passenger presumed dead after aircraft crashes in Alaska's Denali National Park
Ranking
- Denzel Washington Will Star in Black Panther 3 Before Retirement
- Taylor Swift announces 1989 (Taylor's Version) is on its way: My most favorite re-record I've ever done
- Harry Kane leaves Tottenham for Bayern Munich in search of trophies
- Lawyer says suspect, charged with hate crime, may argue self-defense in dancer’s death
- The Daily Money: Mattel's 'Wicked' mistake
- How fixing up an old Mustang helped one ALS patient find joy through friendship
- Men attacked Alabama boat co-captain for ‘just doing my job,’ he says
- Madonna Celebrates Son Rocco’s Birthday With Heartfelt Tribute
Recommendation
-
Kim Kardashian and Kourtney Kardashian Team Up for SKIMS Collab With Dolce & Gabbana After Feud
-
Johnny Manziel says Reggie Bush should get back Heisman Trophy he forfeited
-
As flames swallowed Maui, survivors made harrowing escapes
-
Balanced effort leads US past Doncic-less Slovenia 92-62 in World Cup warm-up game
-
Cavaliers' Darius Garland rediscovers joy for basketball under new coach
-
The Perseid meteor shower peaks this weekend and it’s even better this year
-
Polish government plans referendum asking if voters want ‘thousands of illegal immigrants’
-
Guatemalan presidential candidate Sandra Torres leans on conservative values, opposing gay marriage