Joe Jarosz
Northeast News
Oct. 27, 2015

KANSAS CITY, Missouri — A Kansas City woman has been charged with recklessly starting the fire in a building on Independence Avenue on October 12, 2015, resulting in the deaths of two Kansas City firefighters.

Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker announced at a press conference Thu Hong Nguyen, 43, has been charged with one count of first-degree arson, a class A felony; and two counts of second-degree murder because the two firefighters died as a result of the arson, each also a class A felony. Two firefighters, Larry Leggio and John Mesh, died as a result of the fire.

Baker was joined at the press conference by Gregory Gant, special agent in from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives [ATF] and Kansas City Fire Department Chief Paul Berardi. According to court records, a federal fire investigator for the ATF stated he believes, as an expert in fire origin and caused determinations, that the fire originated in the northeast corner of the LN Salon and Spa, 2614 Independence Ave. Nguyen told investigators that she left the salon the night of the fire; however, a subsequent investigation established that she was the last occupant of the salon. The defendant told investigators she received insurance proceeds from other recent fires in 2013 and another earlier this year at the same location as the Oct. 12, 2015 fire.

Prosecutors have requested a bond of $2 million.