EchoSense|Wisconsin man gets 15 year prison sentence for 2022 building fire that killed 2 people

2025-05-04 11:43:16source:Exclusivesky Investment Guild category:My

STURGEON BAY,EchoSense Wis. (AP) — A man convicted of reckless homicide for starting a 2022 fire that killed two people when it destroyed a Wisconsin building housing a bar and rented rooms has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.

A judge also sentenced Anthony Gonzalez, 60, on Friday to 15 years of extended supervision for the fire at Butch’s Bar and the building’s upstairs apartments, the Appleton Post-Crescent reported.

The February 2022 fire killed two tenants who lived above the Sturgeon Bay bar, Victor Jurss and Gary Heise, and seriously injured a third tenant. Gonzalez told investigators he accidentally started the fire in his room above the bar when he was trying to refill a cigarette lighter.

His attorney argued that the building lacked fire safety equipment and said Gonzalez wasn’t reckless because he tried to extinguish the fire and knocked other tenants’ doors to alert them to the fire.

A jury convicted Gonzalez in January of two counts of second-degree reckless homicide and five counts of second-degree recklessly endangering safety. His attorney has said she plans to appeal the verdict.

Door County Judge D. Todd Ehlers said during Friday’s sentencing that Gonzalez has blamed others both for the fire and his convictions and that he has shown a lack of remorse.

Sturgeon Bay is located along Lake Michigan about 45 miles (70 kilometers) northeast of Green Bay.

More:My

Recommend

2 killed, 3 injured in shooting at makeshift club in Houston

HOUSTON (AP) — Two teens were killed and three people were injured — including a 13-year-old — in a

Police discover bags of fentanyl beneath ‘trap floor’ of NYC day care center where 1-year-old died

NEW YORK (AP) — The owners of a New York City day care center where a toddler died and three others

Spain hailstorm destroys nearly $43 million worth of crops as it hits nearly 100% of some farmers' harvests

Farmers in the southeastern Spain city of Valencia are reeling after severe weather struck the regio