Defense questions witness motivation in Columbia arson trial
Two prosecution witnesses faced intense scrutiny Thursday in the trial of a Columbia businessman accused or orchestrating an arson-for-hire plot.
Merhdad Fotoohighiam’s defense lawyer, Scott Rosenblum, attacked the credibility of a woman whose boyfriend was also charged in the plot and a man who said Fotoohighiam approached him about setting the fire.
He is accused of paying an employee $500 in December 2014 to set fire to Marcia Green’s home. A jury acquitted the employee, James Hall, in July 2018. Green was awarded more than $2.75 million in a civil case last September for her injuries and damage to her property.
Philip Groenweghe, a special prosecutor called in from St. Charles County, called Jennifer Wilson, a woman who claimed to be staying at Hall’s residence during the fire, to the stand Thursday morning
Wilson testified she had seen Hall leave the night of the fire with an antifreeze container which smelled of gasoline and a duffel bag. She said he returned later smelling of gasoline and with “singed eyelashes.”
She then claimed she heard Hall of the phone with a man with a foreign accent who she believed to be his boss. She said she heard him say the trailer went up “in a blaze of glory.”
Rosenblum grilled Wilson about her intentions in the court room and credibility of her statements.
Wilson said she is currently homeless. Right now, the state is paying for her to stay in a hotel and giving her gift cards for food, for the duration of the trial. She asked the state for money, but the state refused to pay her.
Rosenblum questioned Wilson about contradicting statements she had made in regard to Hall’s eyelashes, her relationship with Hall, and when she originally reported the crime.
Next, Groenweghe called Scotty Christopher, a man Fotoohighiam allegedly asked to help in setting the trailer on fire.
Christopher claimed Fotoohighiam asked him and Hall if they wanted to make some extra money to burn down Green’s home, which he declined.
Rosenblum listed Christopher’s criminal history and drug use to cast doubt on his credibility.
Two Columbia police officers who were a part of Fotoohighiam’s arrest claimed on the night of his arrest, they went to his door, heard a male voice, then a woman answered the door and said he was not home.
They said they found him in the attic after a nearly 8-hour stand-off.
Two former employees of Fotoohighiam also testified. They claim that after he was arrested, they visited him in jail, where he displayed a note through the glass to pay James Hall.
Both Groenweghe and Rosenblum objected several times, leading Judge Steven Ohmer, a visiting judge from St. Louis, to call them to the stand multiple times to clear up arguments.
The trial will continue Friday with more witness testimony. Ohmer said it could go late into next week.
