(KNSI) – A Sartell man has been charged with arson after allegedly setting fire to his mother-in-law’s house to avoid cleaning up her hoarding problem and collecting insurance money.
Police and fire investigators were called to the two-story home in the 800-block of 2 ½ Street North in Sartell on June 14th, 2019.
Neighbors reported seeing cracked windows and dark soot around the windows. There were also miscellaneous items stacked and scattered all over the house.
Investigators searched the home and found smoke damage throughout the house and heavy fire damage in the basement.
Officials determined the fire was intentionally set.
Police spoke with Erin Michael Idzerda, who watched the house while his mother-in-law was undergoing cancer treatments.
The-40-year-old Sartell man had been watching the house since 2017.
According to the criminal complaint, Idzerda made several contradictory statements to police about his whereabouts around the time the fire started.
A few weeks before the fire, Idzerda’s wife was put in her mother’s estate and entitled to 50% of the house’s value.
Shortly after the fire, his mother-in-law died.
Idzerda’s and his wife filed an insurance claim for the home.
Idzerda also made statements to the insurance company that he didn’t want to deal with the mess left by his mother-in-law’s hoarding and that watching the house had been a hardship on the family.
A summons has been ordered for him to appear in court on a charge of first-degree arson.
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