Defense pleased with jury’s not guilty decision in Casa Maria’s owner’s arson case
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The defense attorney for the woman who was found not guilty of a Dunklin County arson case said he was pleaded with the outcome.
Crystal Umfress, who owned Casa Maria’s in Columbia, was found not guilty of second-degree arson in a Butler County courtroom Tuesday night.
Umfress was accused in 2023 of hiring Kerry Raymond to burn down Lupita's Mexican Restaurant in Dunklin County.
A witness claimed Umfress gave her $1,000 upfront to burn the restaurant. Court documents say the witness told officers that it was because Umfress was "upset at the owner of the business because she ran off with her husband, the business owner."
Umfress's attorney, Russell Oliver told ABC 17 News the witness who accused Umfress admitted to planning the scheme during testimony.
"They were going to lie and say that she paid them to set this fire and to extort money out of Crystal," Oliver said.
Oliver added the witness's daughter and the owner of Lupita's Mexican Restaurant also testified.
"I think the whole [prosecutor's] story didn't make sense," Oliver said. "The owner of the restaurant described Crystal as a friend and said that they had a decent family relationship."
The case was held in Butler County after it was moved in 2024. Oliver told ABC 17 News the move did help with jury selection and finding people who have not followed the case. However, he predicts the location change would not have mattered.
"I think that no matter what venue we were in, with the facts that were presented to this jury, I don't see a different outcome regardless of what they knew that we were in," Oliver said.
Oliver adds that with extensive coverage of the trial, Umfress still needs time to adjust.
"These lies have been an absolute devastation to her life," Oliver said. "It's going to take a long time, if ever, for her to recover from the damage that she has been inflicted over the last two years."
Umfress is returning to court Feb. 17 for a status conference on a second felony case. She was charged in 2024 with two counts of filing false documents and three counts of forgery after she was accused of impersonating county officials and restaurant owners.
ABC 17 News reached out to the Scott County prosecutor, who was a special prosecutor on the case, for comment, but he was out of the office.
