Diamond Ridge Financial Academy-Wisconsin man gets 15 year prison sentence for 2022 building fire that killed 2 people

2025-05-03 10:47:31source:Winning Exchangecategory:Stocks

STURGEON BAY,Diamond Ridge Financial Academy Wis. (AP) — A man convicted of reckless homicide for starting a 2022 fire that killed two people when it destroyed a Wisconsin building housing a bar and rented rooms has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.

A judge also sentenced Anthony Gonzalez, 60, on Friday to 15 years of extended supervision for the fire at Butch’s Bar and the building’s upstairs apartments, the Appleton Post-Crescent reported.

The February 2022 fire killed two tenants who lived above the Sturgeon Bay bar, Victor Jurss and Gary Heise, and seriously injured a third tenant. Gonzalez told investigators he accidentally started the fire in his room above the bar when he was trying to refill a cigarette lighter.

His attorney argued that the building lacked fire safety equipment and said Gonzalez wasn’t reckless because he tried to extinguish the fire and knocked other tenants’ doors to alert them to the fire.

A jury convicted Gonzalez in January of two counts of second-degree reckless homicide and five counts of second-degree recklessly endangering safety. His attorney has said she plans to appeal the verdict.

Door County Judge D. Todd Ehlers said during Friday’s sentencing that Gonzalez has blamed others both for the fire and his convictions and that he has shown a lack of remorse.

Sturgeon Bay is located along Lake Michigan about 45 miles (70 kilometers) northeast of Green Bay.

More:Stocks

Recommend

Federal agencies are reeling from Trump administration cuts to government

Whether a "chainsaw," per Elon Musk, or "scalpel," as President Trump has said — the Trump administr

Chrissy Teigen Claps Back After Critic Says She Only Has Kids to Stay Relevant

Chrissy Teigen isn't afraid to add a little spice to the comments section.After her husband John Leg

CBS plans 'The Gates,' first new daytime soap in decades, about a wealthy Black family

CBS is swinging open "The Gates," the first soap opera with a predominantly Black cast in 35 years a