Demera

Defendant was convicted on an indictment charging the felony of burning his residence with the intent to defraud an insurance company.

The facts are that defendant owned a store in the city of Fresno, where he conducted a grocery business, and lived with his family in a house adjacent to and connecting with the store building and having a common wall. On the night of February 5th or the morning of February 6,1922, at about 1:45 o’clock A. M., his house was discovered to be on fire from a fire originating in the basement of the house. The defendant and his family had gone to Sanger at 11 o’clock A. M. of the fifth day of February, being a Sunday, to visit some friends in that town. They arrived there about noon and remained until about midnight or near 1 o’clock A. M. of February 6th, when they returned to Fresno and found their house on fire. The defendant, his wife, and two sons were immediately arrested and taken to headquarters, where they were interrogated concerning the origin of the fire and released about 5 A. M. of that morning. On the nineteenth day of April one Caiazza and one Guisto were arrested and charged with burning a house owned by one Holcomb. In the course of…