DARLINGTON - A judge heard hours of testimony Thursday but made no decision on whether incriminating statements Armin Wand III made to law enforcement can be used as evidence in his murder trial next month.
The Argyle man, 33, told investigators he set the Sept. 7 fire in his rental home with the intent of killing his pregnant wife and four children to collect on their life insurance and make a "fresh start," according to a criminal complaint filed days after the fire.
His brother, Jeremy Wand, 18, is also charged in the alleged arson plot and has pleaded not guilty.
The fire killed three of the children, ages 7, 5 and 3, and severely burned their mother, Sharon Wand, who survived but lost the baby she was carrying. The couple's 2-year-old daughter survived the fire.
Armin Wand's public defenders are seeking to have his hours of interviews with investigators in the days after the fire struck from the record. These interviews include Wand's apparent admissions of guilt.
Wand's parents have maintained their sons are innocent and investigators coerced their confessions. After the homicide charges were brought against him, the older brother stood mute - effectively pleading not guilty.
State prosecutors called six witnesses to testify at the hearing Thursday. In the afternoon, during a four-hour session closed to the public, defense attorneys Guy Taylor and Jason Daane called to the stand the defendant and Dr. Kent Berney, the psychologist who evaluated him.
Several shared observations came out of the examination and cross examination of the state's six witnesses, all members of law enforcement.
When asked, none expressed concern about Wand's mental health or his ability to understand what was happening. They also agreed he could make himself easily understood despite having a lifelong stutter. Each testified that Wand gave his statements freely and without coercion.
"He was very cooperative and wanted to do whatever he could to help," said James Sielehr, deputy state fire marshal, of an interview he conducted with Wand in the day after the fire, before his arrest. "I wanted the meeting to be informal and laid-back. I was trying to be very sympathetic to the situation."
The defense attorneys challenged Sielehr on his method of questioning Wand. Consulting the transcript from the interviews, Daane read back Sielehr's statements to Wand.
"You are going to have to stand in judgment someday, not only to God, but to your children."
"The only way to get past this is to tell the truth ... so I can fight for you."
"If you tell the truth, I'll help you get past this."
Sielehr denied Daane's characterization of these statements as promises or threats.
Daane quoted another special agent, Brad Montgomery, as telling Wand he was facing three murder charges "unless you start telling us what happened."
"You don't consider that to be a promise? It's not a promise of leniency?" Daane asked Montgomery. The agent said no.
Wand's poor eyesight is another issue Daane and Taylor brought up to witnesses. Wand wears thick glasses, but his glasses broke during the fire and he had to go without during the days after the fire - potentially meaning that "one of his five senses wasn't there for him," Daane said.
Vale is expected to make his decision in mid-February on the motion to suppress Wand's statements from the evidence brought to trial. Wand's trial is scheduled Feb. 22 to March 1 in Darlington before a jury brought in from a county outside the Madison media market.
According to a brief filed Jan. 15, state prosecutors are seeking to bring forward evidence at the trial that Wand physically and sexually abused his wife, Sharon Wand, in the months leading up to the fire.
Prosecutors Richard Defour and Roy Korte allege Wand punched and choked her, pulled her hair, threatened to kill her and, "if she refused to have sex with him, he would burn her with a cigarette" and force her to have sex.
The evidence of abuse they're bringing forward makes clear the fatal fire "was no accident but instead an intentional act," Defour and Korte wrote in the brief.
On Jan. 14, Sharon Wand filed for a divorce from her husband.
The Argyle man, 33, told investigators he set the Sept. 7 fire in his rental home with the intent of killing his pregnant wife and four children to collect on their life insurance and make a "fresh start," according to a criminal complaint filed days after the fire.
His brother, Jeremy Wand, 18, is also charged in the alleged arson plot and has pleaded not guilty.
The fire killed three of the children, ages 7, 5 and 3, and severely burned their mother, Sharon Wand, who survived but lost the baby she was carrying. The couple's 2-year-old daughter survived the fire.
Armin Wand's public defenders are seeking to have his hours of interviews with investigators in the days after the fire struck from the record. These interviews include Wand's apparent admissions of guilt.
Wand's parents have maintained their sons are innocent and investigators coerced their confessions. After the homicide charges were brought against him, the older brother stood mute - effectively pleading not guilty.
State prosecutors called six witnesses to testify at the hearing Thursday. In the afternoon, during a four-hour session closed to the public, defense attorneys Guy Taylor and Jason Daane called to the stand the defendant and Dr. Kent Berney, the psychologist who evaluated him.
Several shared observations came out of the examination and cross examination of the state's six witnesses, all members of law enforcement.
When asked, none expressed concern about Wand's mental health or his ability to understand what was happening. They also agreed he could make himself easily understood despite having a lifelong stutter. Each testified that Wand gave his statements freely and without coercion.
"He was very cooperative and wanted to do whatever he could to help," said James Sielehr, deputy state fire marshal, of an interview he conducted with Wand in the day after the fire, before his arrest. "I wanted the meeting to be informal and laid-back. I was trying to be very sympathetic to the situation."
The defense attorneys challenged Sielehr on his method of questioning Wand. Consulting the transcript from the interviews, Daane read back Sielehr's statements to Wand.
"You are going to have to stand in judgment someday, not only to God, but to your children."
"The only way to get past this is to tell the truth ... so I can fight for you."
"If you tell the truth, I'll help you get past this."
Sielehr denied Daane's characterization of these statements as promises or threats.
Daane quoted another special agent, Brad Montgomery, as telling Wand he was facing three murder charges "unless you start telling us what happened."
"You don't consider that to be a promise? It's not a promise of leniency?" Daane asked Montgomery. The agent said no.
Wand's poor eyesight is another issue Daane and Taylor brought up to witnesses. Wand wears thick glasses, but his glasses broke during the fire and he had to go without during the days after the fire - potentially meaning that "one of his five senses wasn't there for him," Daane said.
Vale is expected to make his decision in mid-February on the motion to suppress Wand's statements from the evidence brought to trial. Wand's trial is scheduled Feb. 22 to March 1 in Darlington before a jury brought in from a county outside the Madison media market.
According to a brief filed Jan. 15, state prosecutors are seeking to bring forward evidence at the trial that Wand physically and sexually abused his wife, Sharon Wand, in the months leading up to the fire.
Prosecutors Richard Defour and Roy Korte allege Wand punched and choked her, pulled her hair, threatened to kill her and, "if she refused to have sex with him, he would burn her with a cigarette" and force her to have sex.
The evidence of abuse they're bringing forward makes clear the fatal fire "was no accident but instead an intentional act," Defour and Korte wrote in the brief.
On Jan. 14, Sharon Wand filed for a divorce from her husband.