Davenport Teen Admits Burning Courthouse Will Hill Avoids Monday Trial By Confessing To Arson Charge

Davenport resident Will Hill, 17, on Friday admitted starting the Dec. 21 fire that destroyed the Lincoln County Courthouse.

Hill pleaded guilty to first-degree arson in a hastily arranged hearing before Adams County Superior Court Judge Richard Miller in Ritzville. Hill had been scheduled to go to trial Monday in Spokane.

Deputy Lincoln County Prosecutor Clark Colwell said the plea agreement was reached about 4:30 p.m. Thursday. He said court-appointed defense attorney Kelly Dougan initiated discussions earlier Thursday.

Colwell agreed to drop a second-degree burglary charge, which he said would not have increased Hill’s sentence because it was part of the same incident. Hill faces a standard range of a little more than two to almost three years in prison when he is sentenced Sept. 12.

Hill will serve his sentence in an adult prison, with credit for the six months he has been locked up since he was charged on Jan. 22. Spokane County Juvenile Court Judge Richard Schroeder transferred Hill to adult court in March.

Hill did not talk Friday in court, but admitted in a written statement that he broke into the Lincoln County courthouse.

“I went into the juvenile (probation) office and intentionally broke a computer and other items,” Hill stated.

“As a result of the damage I caused, I believe that a fire started which destroyed the courthouse although I do not remember starting the fire.”

Arson specialists said the fire appeared to have been set in the attic above the juvenile probation office.

Earlier court proceedings indicated Hill had been drinking with two other teenage boys and was drunk and alone when he broke into the courthouse. He became a suspect when police spotted him watching the fire gut the landmark structure, built in 1897.

Police arrested Hill at the time on an unrelated assault charge, to which he pleaded guilty in Juvenile Court.

Hill’s Juvenile Court file was found in a briefcase under a house across the street from the courthouse - where witnesses said they saw Hill watching the fire. Police said witnesses told them Hill was angry with his probation counselor.

Hill has Juvenile Court convictions for second-degree possession of stolen property, car theft and third-degree assault.

His arson trial was to have been before a Spokane County jury because Miller ruled Hill couldn’t receive a fair trial in Lincoln County. A $4.5 million renovation of the courthouse is expected to be completed in December. County officials say that cost, plus $750,000 to $800,000 to replace equipment, will be paid entirely by insurance.

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