Woman found guilty of arson in store fire

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) — A southern Kentucky woman has been found guilty of arson on charges she intentionally set a Horse Cave store on fire.

A federal jury in Bowling Green handed down the verdict Friday in the case of 57-year-old Debra Fowler Kessinger of Smiths Grove, the one-time manager of the Horse Cave Dollar General store.

The store burned June 27, 2011.

Federal prosecutors accused Kessinger of setting the fire to conceal financial wrongdoing at the store, claiming she was responsible for the loss of thousands of dollars of inventory over the year when she managed the store.

An inventory audit had been scheduled for the store two days after the fire.

Chief U.S. District Court Judge Joseph McKinley ordered Kessinger detained until her sentencing on March 12.

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