Man pleads guilty to arson in $6M apartment building fire

Man pleads guilty to arson in $6M apartment building fire

By Morgan Jacobsen

December 15th, 2014 @ 4:36pm

Scott G. Winterton/Deseret News/File

SALT LAKE CITY A Bountiful man pleaded guilty Monday to setting fire to an unfinished Salt Lake apartment building in February, causing about $6 million in damage.

Dustin Jay Bowman, who stood in a red jumpsuit with his hands shackled at his waist, pleaded guilty to arson as part of a resolution with prosecutors.

Federal prosecutor Drew Yeates will recommend a prison sentence of 48 months and a fine of just under $3 million when Bowman, 34, is sentenced on March 4.

Days after the Feb. 9 blaze, Bowman admitted during an interview with investigators that he started a fire in the apartment building, where he was involved in construction as an electrician. That interview was later challenged by Bowman's attorney, Jamie Zenger, because police reportedly did not inform Bowman of his Miranda rights.

Zenger made a motion to suppress Bowman's confession, though prosecutors say Bowman offered to help investigators and told them during the interview that he knew he was not obligated to speak to them.

U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart granted the motion to suppress Bowman's statements during that interview, but denied a motion to suppress a later confession at the Salt Lake County Jail.

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Man pleads guilty to arson in $6M apartment building fire