Posted: Mar 5, 2010 1:53 PM
MAYWOOD, Illinois (AP) - Prosecutors say the owner of an apartment building in a Chicago suburb had his maintenance man set it on fire, killing seven people, because he wanted to collect the insurance money.
The building's owner, 60-year-old Lawrence Myers, and the maintenance man, 47-year-old Marion Comier, are charged with murder and arson in the Feb. 14 fire in Cicero.
Both were denied bond on Friday. The men were assigned public defenders who said little in court about the allegations against their client. Myers' public defender says he looks forward to the case going to trial.
Cook County state's attorney Anita Alvarez says the fire was set out of "sheer greed." She says Myers had an insurance policy on the building worth $250,000.
Alvarez says the inhumanity of the crime is almost "beyond comprehension."
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