Dec 23, 2003 By Jennifer Harr 2 min read

Nearly three years to the day that he allegedly helped set a fatal fire in Thompson 2, Brian Steven Moats agreed to plead guilty to third-degree murder. The 31-year-old Morgantown, W.Va., man accepted the plea offer made to him Monday in Fayette County Court, said Assistant District Attorney Phyllis A. Jin.

Moats is accused of throwing a Molotov cocktail at the home of Curtis Solomon Long on Dec. 23, 2000, sparking a fire that took Long’s life. Moats’ agreement to plea comes four months after Dwayne Michael Hall was sentenced to 7 1/2 to 15 years in prison for his plea to the same count.

Hall was charged in Long’s death last year, after an investigation by the state police Cold Case Squad. Although police initially indicated that Hall set the fire, he later cooperated with authorities, and Moats was arrested as the person who set the blaze. According to court documents, Moats, Hall and two other men went to Long’s home to set it on fire after Long’s girlfriend allegedly stole Christmas presents meant for Hall’s children from his home.

During his plea proceeding, Hall testified that he knocked on Long’s door to make sure no one was home when they set the blaze. When no one answered, the men reportedly set the home on fire. Long was in the downstairs area of the home, and died. When Hall pleaded guilty to third-degree murder, part of his plea deal was that he provide testimony against any others arrested in the crime. Moats was arrested in September, and prosecutors claimed he is the man who actually set the fatal fire.

Moats was arrested at his Morgantown home and waived extradition to Pennsylvania.

He has been lodged in the Fayette County Prison since he was returned to the state.

Judge Steve P. Leskinen is scheduled to take Moats’ plea on Dec. 29.