Teenager Charged With Torching Courthouse Aim Was To Destroy Juvenile Records, 17-Year-Old Allegedly Told Other Kids

A 17-year-old boy has been charged with setting the Dec. 21 fire that heavily damaged the Lincoln County Courthouse.

Court documents filed by Deputy Prosecutor Clark Colwell suggest Davenport resident William O. Hill may have held a grudge against a juvenile probation officer.

Hill told several other teenagers about the arson, and “building material fragments” in his clothing matched materials in the courthouse, Colwell stated.

Davenport police also spotted what appeared to be soot on Hill’s hands when he was arrested.

Hill is to make his first appearance on a first-degree arson charge today in Juvenile Court. He was arrested on unrelated charges while watching the courthouse fire, and since then he has been held in the Spokane County Juvenile Detention Center.

Hill is facing second-degree assault and unlawful imprisonment charges in a Nov. 12 incident in which Davenport resident John Brown Jr., 19, was beaten, choked and tortured with darts for several hours. Three other juveniles and two adults also were charged in that crime.

In an affidavit filed Monday, Colwell said two teenagers reported that while watching the century-old courthouse burn, Hill pointed to the second-story window of juvenile probation counselor Vickie Harris’ office and said that’s where the fire had started.

“No more records and no more Juvey,” Hill allegedly said.

Another teenager, Aaron James, said Hill had told him he planned to burn down the courthouse, according to Colwell.

James said he was with Hill until about 8:30 p.m., shortly before the time authorities believe the fire started.

Hill also made derogatory comments about the probation counselor, Colwell said.

After the fire, Hill told other teenagers he had broken into Harris’ office by climbing a fire escape and breaking a window, the affidavit states.

Hill told one of those two that he admitted to Davenport Police Chief Phillips Robertson that he had broken into the courthouse but denied starting the fire.

Investigators believe the arsonist entered the courthouse through an open attic window above the juvenile department office. Officials of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms said a fire was set in the attic and another fire may have been set in the juvenile office.

Colwell believes the window of an interior door to the juvenile office was smashed, ironically, with a fire extinguisher.

Based on his age and criminal record, Hill faces 2 to 2-1/2 years in a juvenile institution if convicted of arson. He could get an additional nine months to a year if convicted of assault and unlawful imprisonment charges.

Hill, who has been living with an aunt and unrelated people in Davenport, was convicted of second-degree possession of stolen property in December 1993 and car theft in September 1994, records show.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: PROSECUTORS’ CASE According to prosecutors, William O. Hill: Told other teenagers he had broken into the courthouse; Had fragments in his clothes that matched materials from the building; Had soot on his hands when arrested.