The jury trial for Danny Burrows opened on Tuesday, December 13th in the Circuit Court of Calhoun County with Judge Anita Harold Ashley presiding. Nigel Jeffries, Prosecuting Attorney represented the State of West Virginia and Mark Plants was the Defense Attorney for Danny H. Burrows charged with 3 counts of Arson.
Testifying on day one of the trial Fire Chief David Johnson, Corporal Jeffrey Hunt and arson victim Sunshine Bell. Ridgeview News was not present for this testimony.
Day two’s trial opened with witness Harold Ullum who was inadvertently involved in the case through what is believed to have been a mistaken assumption that he owned the house burnt at 1873 Little Kanawha Highway, actually owned by Connie Toppings. Ullum had previously owned the house, remodeled and sold it twice, the last time to Toppings on December 7 of 2018. Her son Leon Kerby was in the process of moving into the home.
On February 19, 2019 Dick Ullum was asleep in his home when Scotty Morford arrived to tell him his house was burning at 1873 Little Kanawha Highway. He too thought Mr. Ullum owned the house. When Ullum arrived at the house fire he was the third person to arrive on scene. Ullum stated that he thought that it was obvious that it was an issue of arson.
Prosecutor Jeffries asked Mr. Ullum if he was familiar with Danny Burrows. Mr. Ullum said that he had hired and fired Burrows on a remodeling job in late summer 2018. After that, he discovered that Danny Burrows was living in one of his rental properties that had been rented to Gerald Goff for 4 or 5 years. He informed Mr. Goff that Danny Burrows was not to be on the property which ended in the serving of an eviction on Gerald Goff in December of 2018. Burrows stated to Harold Ullum that if he made them move he would “burn this house down.” Ullum took the threat serious, even checking to make sure all his homes were insured. Following this incident Goff and Burrows continued to stay in the house requiring Ullum to file a Wrongful Occupation suit in Calhoun Magistrate Court.
In January 2019 Burrows was convicted of trespassing on the property of Harold Ullum.
The Keener Property burned February 1, 2019.
Defense Attorney Plants cross examined Ullum, questioning him about a towing service he owned and insinuating that disgruntled customers could have also sought revenge against Mr. Ullum. He also questioned him about Burrows’ stay with Goff as to the frequency of his stays, stating that he perhaps was just house sitting. A matter that Ullum disputed. His next form of questioning related to the the tenant moving into the home that was burned, Leon Kerby, who was just getting released from jail. Plants even questioned the ethics of Mr. Ullum by bringing up a previous felony where Ullum was convicted of fraud. None of which apparently swayed the jury.
Connie Toppings was the next witness of the State to verify ownership and she was on the scene if the fire the night her home burned. She also verified that her son Leon Kerby was still incarcerated the night of the fire and could not have had anything to do with it as suggested by Mark Plants, Attorney.
Sgt. Christopher Weekly of the West Virginia State Police who was dispatched to the scene of the fire took pictures of the home for the WV State Fire Marshall’s office in case the fire was questioned as to origin. Prosecuting Attorney Jeffries ask Sgt. Weekley if there were civilians around he property of the fire. He responded that it was the family who owned the house and the defendant who had called the fire in, Danny Burrows.
Weekley was also the investigating officer on the 3rd arson which was a home at 208 Lavada Road owned by Johnny and Sunshine Bell. In a statement from Burrows recorded by Cpl. Jeffrey B. Hunt, Burrows, who lived in a camper near the dwelling that burned stated that he heard lightning strikes then popping and cracking and assumed it had struck the home in question in the rear of the house. Weekly found no evidence of a lighting strike.
Ronald Sampson, a former cell mate of Danny Burrows when they were incarcerated together from November 2021 to October 2022 at the WV Central Regional Jail, was called to testify against Burrows. Sampson had approached the State of West Virginia, offering evidence against Burrows in exchange for the dismissal of two felony cases charging him with transfer of stolen property and forgery of a title. Sampson testified that during their time as cellmates Burrows had confided in him that he and Christopher Ferrell had a disagreement over some missing marijuana. He told Sampson that he had pulled coals from a wood stove to start the fire. They had also discussed the property at 1823 Little Kanawha Highway with Burrows telling him of the eviction issues with Harold Ullum and that he started the fire to “cover up his tracks.” A term Sampson said he used when discussing the fire on Lavada road that he had also “covered up his tracks” at that location.
Sampson was also cross examined by the defense with emphasis placed on his own criminal behavior and affiliation with some of the victims.
Jason Baltic, Deputy Fire Marshall of the WV Fire Marshall’s Office was the final witness in the case and considered an expert witness. He was assigned to investigate the Lavada Road Fire. During his investigation he had spoken with victim Johnny Bell, who informed Baltic that he and Burrows had “fallen out.” He interviewed Burrows as well who reiterated the story of the lightening strikes. Baltic found no evidence of a lightening strike, a fact that determined from a internet program that runs off of GPS (Global positioning system) that showed no strikes within 1 mile of the residence the night of the fire. Although lightening was ruled out, the dwelling was damaged to the extent no direct evidence could be provided that it was arson.
Baltic was also on the scene of the Connie Toppings residence which was ruled as arson with evidence from the break in as well as the fire pattern which started in the bedroom. The Toppings residence was not fully destroyed. Connie Toppings had given the name of Danny Burrows as a suspect brining him into the investigation of Arson although there was no physical evidence linking Burrows to arson.
Danny Burrows at the last minute decided that he wanted to testify on his own behalf. This would not have been required and appeared to be not suggested by his defense attorney. He described the nights of the Lavada Road and Little Kanawha Highway Fires, his disagreements with John Bell, Harold Ullum and Christopher Ferrell but denied having anything to do with setting any fires. He denied the statements of former cell mate Ronald Sampson, saying that he was lying.
The trial came to an end late Wednesday evening with the closing arguments offered by the State and Defense on Thursday morning.
Prosecuting Attorney Nigel Jefferies closed by presenting a map of the area of the arson locations and the defendants residences at the time of the arsons. He informed the jury that based on facts and evidence, there was only one person who would have the motive to set the fires. All others mentioned had no motive or no opportunity. The evidence was not there on the arsons because it burns up. But other evidence was available on why the fires should be considered as intentional sets, reminding them of the testimonies provided and the relationships between Burrows and the victims.
Defense Attorney Mark Plants told the Jury that there were other suspects, or it could’ve been someone not even mentioned. He stated that the State troopers didn’t bother to write down anything in a report. All three cases were circumstantial, no determination of arson on two of the cases and no interrogation of anyone by the WV State Police. He reviewed the character of the witnesses and lack of evidence attempting to show that Danny Burrows was innocent.
When Ridgeview asked Deputy Charles McCroskey why there appeared to be little investigation on the scenes, he said that it wasn’t until all three fires were over that the officers noticed the common denominator of Danny Burrows in relation to each one. Then the investigation then began into all three fires once again.
Prosecuting Attorney Jeffries closed trial with the quote “Jurors are ask to put aside their feelings and biases, but not their common sense.”
The jury deliberated approximately two hours and returned the following verdicts:
Verdict count 1 – not guilty of burning the Ferrell property.
Verdict count 2 – guilty 1st degree arson of burning the Toppings property.
Verdict count 3 – guilty of 1st degree arson of burning the Bell property.
