Last week, 40-year-old Lucas McCoy of Libertyville was found not guilty by a Jefferson County jury. Following a fire in October of 2020 at his residence at 2437 Indigo Boulevard, McCoy was charged with second degree arson, a class C felony, and conspiracy to commit insurance fraud, a class D felony.

These charges, issued in 2021, stemmed from an investigation by Jefferson County Sheriff’s Deputy Mark Miller. Two witnesses from the investigation claimed McCoy had told them he was going to burn the house down.

The witnesses, Paige McCoy and Hunter Bennett were not available to testify in court, however their depositions were read before the jury. In an initial interview with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Bennett had claimed that he witnessed McCoy preparing to burn the house down. In his deposition, Bennett said he no longer recalled this claim.

When asked for a comment, the prosecution stated that they respect the decision reached by the jury.