Luther Fire Victims Still Looking For Answers, Hope For Grand Jury Trial

It's been six months since the wildfire in Luther destroyed multiple homes. The case has been turned over to the multi-county grand jury and that grand jury has been seated. However, the Attorney General will decide which cases the grand jury will hear.

Wednesday, January 23rd 2013, 4:04 pm



It's been six months since the wildfire in Luther destroyed multiple homes. The case has been turned over to the multi-county grand jury and that grand jury has been seated. However, the Attorney General will decide which cases the grand jury will hear.

The people who used to live there still don't have any answers as to who is responsible.

"We didn't think it was going to get to the house. It kept looking like it was blowing around, but it just kept getting closer and closer and eventually it was there," said Casey Strahan. 

Once the wildfire reached Strahan's house it took everything; a lot that can never be replaced.

"We got a lot of pictures off the wall, but you got tote boxes of pictures, you got albums under beds, scrapbooks, you don't have time and yeah, we lost all those," Strahan said.

8/9/2012 Related Story: Reward Fund Grows For Information In Luther Arson Fire

Sheriff John Whetsel believes all this was at the hands of an arsonist and he thinks he knows who. In November he announced he would turn the case over to the grand jury.

"One of the things that has frustrated us has been the inability to have people talk to us truthfully. So that is why we have opted to go to the grand jury," said Whetsel, back in November.

"I feel like me and my family and all the other families who lost their house, they paid a lot of consequences," said Strahan.

Strahan, who's a coach for the Luther Girls' basketball team, teaches consequences every day. He believes in them. And that is why he is hoping the attorney general agrees to send the case to the grand jury.

8/6/2012 Related Story: Police Release 911 Call In Suspected Arson Case In Luther

"I feel like the people who made those actions take place, they need consequences also. And without an investigation into it, those may not ever take place," Strahan said.

That grand jury docket is secret, so News 9 does not know when or if they are hearing the case, until an indictment is unsealed.

The grand jury will meet for the next 18 months.

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