She burned down her ex-boyfriend’s house after seeing him with another woman, records say

A woman was so angry at her ex-boyfriend that she burned down his Spanaway house and started a fire in his pickup, court documents say.

The 31-year-old woman was charged Monday with first-degree arson and second-degree arson. She has not been arraigned.

Although the fires were set Aug. 24, it took investigators months to obtain cell phone records and use them to place the woman at the fire.

Her phone records also allegedly contained several incriminating text messages.

Charging papers give this account:

The woman visited her ex-boyfriend the night before the blaze and became angry when he had a female visitor.

Because the woman had allegedly started fires and slashed his tires in the past, he asked a friend to house-sit.

The next day, the friend heard several windows breaking around 12:25 p.m., looked outside and spotted the ex-girlfriend.

The house sitter ran next door for help when she saw smoke coming from the porch.

Central Pierce firefighters were unable to save the home in the 24400 block of 32nd Avenue East, and the house was declared a total loss.

Several vehicles in the yard suffered serious smoke and fire damage.

The man showed investigators a text message from his ex-girlfriend saying, “I hope you know I’m going to burn every ‘expletive’ thing in that yard and I don’t give a ‘expletive’ if I go to jail,” records show.

The woman denied starting the fire when investigators interviewed her.

Cell phone records placed the woman at the home when the fire started, and her phone contained texts with news articles of the house fire.

She also had texts expressing concern that she was going to prison and needed to find somewhere to store her car, records say.

This story was originally published December 18, 2018 at 10:27 AM.