A German man who spread fear across Los Angeles for several nights as he torched cars and homes to avenge his mother’s deportation was convicted Thursday of almost 50 arson counts.
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Harry Burkhart, 29, was found guilty of 25 counts of arson of property, 18 counts of arson of an inhabited dwelling and other charges, which included possession of an incendiary device.
This Aug. 15, 2016 photo provided by KCBS-TV shows Harry Burkhart, a German national, in Los Angeles County Superior Court during his trial on multiple arson charges in Los Angeles. The blazes charred cars and homes, causing an estimated $3 million in damages, but caused no deaths.
He will return to court on September 6 to begin the sanity phase of his trial. The judge said Burkhart could pursue those claims during an appeal.
Burkhart set more than a dozen fires under vehicles or near homes on December 30, 2011 apparently in retaliation for the arrest of this mother in connection with crimes in Germany, officials said. Investigators said they had never seen the items used for arson in the USA, but learned it was more common in Europe, where Burkhart had lived.
A defense attorney countered, however, that prosecutors can only tie his client to six or seven of the fires and told jurors they would also hear evidence to support an insanity plea.
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The large number of fires Burkhart set “brought the fire department in this city to its knees”, said Los Angeles County prosecutor Sean Carney during his opening argument. “He was ready to set many more”.
