A Howard jury will be allowed to hear the confession of an Essex man charged with arson and attempted murder for setting fire to the Columbia town house of his estranged girlfriend and her daughter, a judge ruled Thursday.
Scott Allen Pryor, 44, told Howard police he went to the house of Sheryl Alman, 46, around 7:40 a.m. Nov. 19, 2007, and set fire to the first floor.
“I poured gas in multiple areas of downstairs, lit it, went back out the door and went to work,” Pryor said in a recorded interview played Thursday before Howard Circuit Judge Lenore Gelfman.
Defense attorney Benjamin Sutley argued that two police interviews with Pryor should be thrown out of evidence, citing that his client was not properly read his Miranda rights and didn’t know his statements were being recorded.
But Howard police Detective Aaron Dombrowsky said the hidden audio recorder was used as an “investigative tool,” so he could watch Pryor’s body language and reactions during the interview, rather than taking notes.
He also didn’t want Pryor to know he was being recorded, because he was the primary suspect. Police knew Pryor was angry with Alman for breaking up with him and kicking him out of the residence.
A neighbor also reported seeing Pryor leave the house shortly before the fire, Dombrowsky said, and police dogs detected the scent of an accelerant in the trunk of Pryor’s car.
Gelfman ruled that the interviews were conducted properly, and the recording will be admissible when Pryor goes to trial in October.
Pryor, who appeared emotionless as the interviews were played in court, stared straight ahead, wearing a khaki prison uniform.
He faces two counts of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of attempted second-degree murder, first- and second-degree arson, assault, burglary and other related charges.
Police said Alman was not in the house when the fire started, but her daughter, Breanna Alman, 19, and her daughter’s boyfriend, Andrew Lee, 20, were asleep in an upstairs bedroom.
Firefighters found Breanna Alman unconscious and suffering from burns to about 20 percent of her body. She was sent to the Johns Hopkins Bayview Burn Center for recovery, police said.
Lee climbed out of a second-floor window and was taken to Howard County General Hospital.
The fire was extinguished in about 10 minutes, leaving an estimated $500,000 in damage.
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