Heilstedt pleads guilty to 2008 arson charge

On Tuesday, during a scheduled hearing, Brenda Lee Heilstedt of Spencer, withdrew her not guilty plea with regards to arson charges stemming from a fire that broke out at a home she owned on Sunday, Dec. 28, 2008; and pled guilty to arson in the second degree, a Class C felony.

Judge David A. Lester accepted the plea at the Clay County District Court House and set sentencing for 9:30 a.m. March 1. Lester ordered a pre-sentence investigation and report be filed with by Feb. 24.

Heilstedt, appeared in the court room with her attorney Ney McDaniel. Assistant Attorney General Charles Thomas represented the prosecution.

The guilty plea comes as the result of an agreement struck by the attorneys, and filed at the Clay County Courthouse on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009. The Class C felony charge for second-degree arson carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, with a potential fine not to exceed $10,000.

Prior to changing her plea, the 43-year-old faced a first-degree arson conviction for "starting a fire at 209 West Park Street with her 5-year-old child present," according to a criminal complaint filed Dec. 29, 2008, at the Clay County Courthouse. The Class B felony had a potential 25-year sentence if the case went to trial.

The guilty plea allows her to avoid "a trial of any kind."

In accepting a plea, Heilstedt "acknowledges the evidence offered by the state strongly negates her innocence to the original charge of arson in the first degree and to the amended charge of arson in the second degree and as a result, a jury would find her guilty," according to court documents.

Heilstedt was booked into the Clay County Jail on the arson charge after a fire broke out at 12:03 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 28, 2008, at 209 West Park Street in Spencer. When firefighters arrived, smoke and flames were venting out of the first floor east windows and the south front window.

Heilstedt's daughter, Ashley Handy, lived at the house. Spencer Police were called to a disturbance at the residence roughly an hour prior to the fire call, according Spencer Police Chief Mark Lawson.

"The disturbance was strictly verbal. The daughter and the boyfriend left and the next time the police were called there was when the fire started," Lawson said at the time.

Firefighters stopped it from burning, then took an aggressive approach to the interior of the main house fire. Their efforts kept the fire contained to the living room of the home.

The siding on a neighboring house to the east incurred melting and caught fire. The Clay County Attorney's office removed itself from the case, citing a conflict of interest. County Attorney Michael Houchins' firm is representing the neighbor who is seeking compensation for repairs.

* Additional information in this story came from a Daily Reporter article written by Russ Mitchell on Nov. 6, 2009.