Suspected arsonist admits guilt in historic Bidwell Mansion fire in Chico, officials say
CHICO – The man accused of arson in connection with a fire that destroyed the historic Bidwell Mansion in Chico in December has admitted his guilt, officials said Wednesday.
Kevin Carlson, a 30-year-old from Chico, confessed to the crime in front of a judge Wednesday morning, the Butte County District Attorney's Office announced.
Carlson remains in jail without bail and is scheduled to be sentenced on March 5. He faces up to 11 years in state prison.
During the early morning hours of December 11, a Chico State University police dispatcher smelled smoke and saw through a surveillance camera that the 26-room Victorian home had caught fire, prosecutors said. By the time first responders arrived, Bidwell Mansion was fully involved in flames.
Surveillance footage captured "a large burst of flames" on the building's north-facing wall shortly after 2 a.m. that day, prosecutors said. Within the following week, investigators determined there were "clear indicators of arson."
What surveillance cameras also captured was a suspect running from the area of the burning building and walking through the surrounding neighborhood. Multiple cameras also captured a Toyota Highlander coming into the neighborhood shortly before the fire, and law enforcement officials zeroed in on locating that vehicle and its owner.
Investigators eventually were able to track where the registered owner of the vehicle lived and identified the individual as Carlson.
Following the fire, Carlson was seen on gas station surveillance footage purchasing water. The district attorney's office said Carlson was easily identifiable in that footage and was wearing the same clothing the suspect in the Bidwell Mansion footage was wearing after the fire had started.
While tracing Carlosn's activities before the fire, investigators located surveillance footage of him purchasing a 5-gallon fuel can, duct tape, work gloves garbage cans and a lighter.
Following Carlson's arrest on January 2, investigators also matched his GPS coordinates from his phone to the Bidwell Mansion area at the time of the fire, prosecutors said. It was also discovered that Carlson had switched his phone into airplane mode between 1:36 a.m. and 2:35 a.m., which is the timeframe for when the mansion had caught fire and when he would have arrived back at his home.
The historic Bidwell Mansion was originally built in the 1860s and, at the time of the fire, was undergoing renovations that the California State Parks said were almost complete. A fundraiser to rebuild the mansion was created and announced in January.
CBS Sacramento cannot guarantee that the money donated to fundraiser accounts will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering donating, you should consult your own advisers and proceed at your own risk.
