A mobile home fire on Union Road in Waldoboro last year was started by a veteran who was not receiving help he needed for “substantial mental health issues” related to his service, according to a Lincoln County prosecutor.
Eric Buckley, 35, was arrested Nov. 22, 2013 for the alleged arson of a mobile home he shared with his ex-girlfriend, Elizabeth Cunningham, 43, and her then-14-year-old son.
As part of a deferred disposition, Buckley pleaded guilty Sept. 25 to aggravated criminal mischief, a class C felony which could be reduced to a misdemeanor if he complies with certain conditions over the next year. The arson charge was dismissed.
“Unfortunately this is a really bad case of one of our veterans not receiving the services that they should have been receiving,” said Assistant District Attorney Andrew Wright, the prosecutor in the case.
“I’m not saying who’s fault that is,” Wright said, but the situation led to “drastic and dangerous activity that could have gone really badly.”
Fire departments from Waldoboro, Warren, and Union responded the morning of Nov. 14, 2013 to 50 Union Rd. for a fire at the mobile home, but the home was a total loss.
Buckley, the only resident home at the time of the fire, allegedly confessed twice to starting the fire by pouring lighter fluid into a cat box he was attempting to clean and igniting it with a wooden match, according to an affidavit by Mary MacMaster, an investigator for the Office of the State Fire Marshal.
“The fire damage is consistent with the tenant’s description of a cat box being placed in the bathtub and ignited with an ignitable liquid,” she wrote.
Buckley later recanted the story but allegedly still admitted setting the fire in an attempt to take his life over the ending of his relationship with Cunningham and her having a new boyfriend, MacMaster wrote.
Buckley allegedly set the fire, lay on the living room floor, and when the heat became unbearable, ran to the opposite end of the home, according to the affidavit.
A 14-year-old neighbor, Jacob Soule, helped Buckley escape out a bedroom window, called 911 to report the fire, and unleashed the family dog from the outside of the mobile home, Maine Department of Public Safety spokesman Steve McCausland said at the time.
According to Wright, Buckley was taken to the Togus Veterans Affairs Medical Center, where he received services after his arrest, and has continued to participate in various support and veterans services both in Maine and New York, where he now lives.
“He’s done very well so far, so we’re hoping Mr. Buckley’s on the right path,” Wright said.
Under his deferred disposition, Buckley is required to continue psychological treatment. If he successfully completes the deferred disposition he will be convicted of criminal mischief, a misdemeanor, and will have to pay a $300 fine.
According to Wright, a deferred disposition can only be made on crimes classified as C, D, or E.
“Since arson [class A] didn’t seem to be an appropriate charge under the circumstances, we moved it down to aggravated criminal mischief, a class C felony,” Wright said.
“It didn’t seem appropriate, based on the actions of everyone, and Mr. Buckley’s reasons for doing this – he wasn’t burning a house down for the insurance, or (to) destroy somebody’s property,” Wright said. “He tried to burn a house down to end his own life, and when we were looking at that we had to try to take that into consideration, and especially take into consideration his service for the country, and that played a direct role into what he did.”
If he fails to complete the deferred disposition, Buckley will be subject to an “open plea” on the aggravated criminal mischief charge, which means he could be incarcerated for up to five years and pay up to a $5,000 fine.
Buckley’s attorney, Jeremy Pratt, had no comment on the case.
