Closings in Tecumseh Poultry arson fire claim bad luck or criminal intent

TECUMSEH – Attorneys made closing arguments Monday on the sixth day of the arson trial of 54-year-old Kimberly Bohling, who is accused of burning down a Tecumseh Poultry barn and killing 20,000 chickens.

Although Fire Investigator Andrew Kreikemeier of the state Fire Marshal’s Office listed the cause of the fire as undetermined, prosecutor Jennifer Stehlik- Ladman was more confident.

Ladman: “She is the proximate cause of that fire.”

Defense Attorney Steven Lefler questions the financial motivation for the chicken producers to get an arson conviction rather than accepting the fire was caused by mechanical failure.

He noted that barns were tampered with Feb. 2, Feb. 23 and March 30 and there was no fire. He said the state alleges that multiple barns were tampered with on April 5, but only one burned.

Lefler: “Switch changes did not cause the fire.”

Lefler said even the company did not expect tampering to cause a fire. He said Tyson Foods describes a $1 million loss, including $20 for each of the market-ready chickens and a $320,000 barn. Yet, Lefler said, they did not put locks on the barns despite three prior tampering incidents.

State attorney Michael Guinan countered that GPS data showed Bohling’s phone near the gate of the chicken farm on each date of the tampering incidents, but he told the jury she did something different on the night of fire, April 5.

The state presented GPS mapping data that showed Bohling’s phone in a wooded area about a mile from the farm for 42 minutes on April 5. Fire Investigator Andrew Kreikemeier said he walked from the spot to the barn that burned and returned in 33 minutes.

The state and defense differed on opinions on how well Bohling could have made the trip in the dark.

Guinan said it was different than the other tampering incidents when her phone was shown outside of the gates near the road.

Guinan: “She picks a barn that is low to the ground and out of sight. She’s not getting a response to triggering the toggles, so she does something different.”

The state left open the idea that Bohling might have lighted the fire with an accelerant and a match or used a torch. Ladman said the state doesn't have to prove the exact way the fire was started, only that Bohling is the cause.

Prosecutors say Bohling was obsessed with revenge after she saw her former intimate partner and caretaker of 30 years, Carol McCann, in an embrace with the farm manager Steve Helser.

Tracks were found near the barn and farm gate after a tampering incident. Prosecutors say shoes with a similar tread were found at Bohling’s residence and similar tire tread was found on her Jeep.

Lefler asked the jury if they would feel better had the state presented a tire track expert regarding the alleged matches, rather than a deputy sheriff who took photographs.

Guinan noted that Bohling testified it was just her bad luck to have driven near the farm in the time frame when there were incidents.

Guinan said her presence there was intentional. He said there was no tampering in the years prior to Bohling being fired and no tampering since her arrest.  Lefler noted, however, that there have been fires since then and none of them were caused by arson.

The case went to the jury just after 1 p.m. on Monday.