Document sheds new light on arson case
A warrant filed by Connellsville police in March, and initially sealed by a Fayette County judge, to search Harry Collins’ home shed little new light on the case of the man police allege was responsible for some of the city’s arsons. An inventory of Collins’ home at 908 S. Pittsburgh Street in Connellsville listed matches, clothing and lighters seized during the search one month before his April 11 arrest.
It was unsealed recently by the county Clerk of Court’s office. Already sealed documents remain sealed for 60 days after being transferred to the office unless a new court order keeps it sealed longer, said Sharon Thomas, deputy clerk of court.
The 58-year-old Connellsville man is accused of setting four of the many arsons that plagued the area for more than one year. Collins is charged with setting fires at the Pujia Hair Salon on Church Place and an Arch Street apartment building on Nov. 29, a Race Street home on Aug. 16 and the Wesley United Methodist Church on Feb. 23. All of those fires occurred in 2004.
The evidence in the case is circumstantial, meaning no one actually saw Collins set the fires. However, witnesses have testified at preliminary proceedings that they saw Collins just before or after some fires were set.
Collins faces several charges of arson and risking a catastrophe. His attorney, Thomas W. Shaffer, maintained Wednesday that Collins lacked the mental abilities waive his rights to talk to police on eight separate occasions.
In a motion filed in early August, Shaffer requested the courts preclude prosecutors from using statements Collins made to police as the arsons were being investigated.
During one of those occasions, Collins told police he heard voices in his head, and classified himself sometimes as “Good Harry” and other times as “Bad Harry.”
Collins himself has maintained his innocence at preliminary hearings, telling reporters that he loves his friends in Connellsville and would do nothing to harm them.
Legally speaking, Collins had to make “a knowing, intelligent and voluntary waiver of rights,” meaning he had to know what he was doing when he told police he would talk to them. If a judge believes Collins did not have the mental ability to do that – a rare finding – the judge could stop prosecutors from using the statements Collins made against him at trial.
Shaffer said he intends to present testimony from a mental health expert on Collins’ behalf at an upcoming suppression hearing.
District Attorney Nancy D. Vernon said she offered Collins a two- to four-year plea deal in one of the arson cases. She called the offer “lenient” because Collins could have faced 10 to 20 years in prison for arson. Offers in criminal cases are typically made to defendants in an effort to streamline the system.
Vernon said the office is ready to take Collins to trial should he reject the plea as Shaffer indicated he would.