COLUMBIA, Ky. — Dedicated to the investigation, an FBI agent collected convictions in a cold case using cell phone tower data.
FBI Special Agent William Kurtz said the arson case was one of his first after graduating from the FBI Training Academy. He was determined to get answers for the first responder who lost his life fighting the fire.
Columbia/Adair County Assistant Fire Chief Charles Sparks suffered a fatal heart attack minutes after battling the blaze in June of 2011. He was an experienced first responder as leader of two departments, a fire marshal and medic.
"He was always willing to help anybody and always did a great job," a colleague said.
Sparks and his coworkers were called to the fire in the early morning hours of June 30, 2011. They were able to control the fire. But once Sparks medical emergency started, the first responders turned their attention to him and the house burned to the ground.
"The initial impression from the arson investigator with Kentucky State Police as well as insurance investigators who responded to the scene was a fire of undetermined origin. The structure was just so burned and destroyed in the fire that they couldn't determine the cause of the fire," Kurtz said.
Kentucky State Police led the investigation until 2013, when they enlisted help from the FBI after rumors started circling the town where it happened.
Kurtz said, "there began to be reports that it might have been an arson and that was members of the community coming forward saying that they had heard Steve Pritchard bragging about setting the fire."
Steve Pritchard, and his then girlfriend Brandi Pritchard, were renting the house where the fire started. Initially, both told police they weren’t home when the fire started.
"He claimed he was hauling glass to Louisville on behalf of a small company that night. Surveillance video didn't exist 8 or 9 months later. Gate records at the self-storage place weren't available that much time later. So there was really a challenge in proving where he was that evening when the fire started”, Kurtz said.
Brandi Pritchard told police she was at work.
"The structure was just so burned and destroyed in the fire that they couldn't determine the cause of the fire," Kurtz said. ”Had Charles not died fighting the fire they would've got away with it."
But there were suggestions for suspicion. Brandi bought a $50,000 rental insurance policy six days before the fire.
Kurtz requested cell phone tower data to try to confirm the tenants alibis.
"When we saw those records it became clear very quickly that Mister Pritchard could not have been in Louisville when he claimed he did as his cell phone was using a cell tower approximately two-and-half to three hours away from Louisville during the period that he would've been in Louisville as he claimed," Kurtz said.
Special Agent Kurtz requested cell phone data that proved Pritchard had lied about his location on the night of the fire. A specialized unit with the FBI analyzed the records to provide usable data for the investigative team.
Once Kurtz had the records he re-interviewed Brandi about what happened that night. In the months that followed, she buckled and the a more true version of the story came out.
"I think they never expected a first responder to die, they never expected KSP and the FBI to begin investigating," Kurtz said.
Kurtz said he believes Steve Pritchard started the fire inside his home and then took Brandi to work. Brandi told the investigators Steve convinced her to start a fire in the home after he found out she purchased the renters insurance. She also told Special Agent Kurtz that Steve instructed her to inflate the value of items inside the house.
Kurtz said, "it is somewhat unusual to take out a $50,000 insurance policy and then immediately have a full loss with the residence."
It took five years to get an indictment in the case. Both Pritchards were charged with mail fraud in the summer of 2016, and then indicted on arson charges later that year.
"We had two prosecutors who were absolutely committed to this case. Who understood it, understood the significance of it. knew it was going to be a challenging case but given the fact that a first responder had died, it was a case worth pursuing," Kurtz said.
Steve Pritchard was found guilty by a federal jury and sentenced to 30 years in prison. Brandi Pritchard his wife was sentenced to 10 years.
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