Hearing set in case of Delaware firefighters killed by arson
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — A judge is holding a plea hearing for a Delaware woman charged in a residential arson that left three firefighters dead.
Tuesday's plea hearing comes just days after a judge set restrictions on expert testimony regarding whether Beatriz Fana-Ruiz's confession that she started the fire was false or coerced. The judge also noted there no evidence that investigators violated her Miranda rights.
Fana-Ruiz was indicted on charges of murder, reckless endangering, assault and arson.
Lt. Christopher Leach and Senior Firefighter Jerry Fickes of the Wilmington fire department died at the scene of the September 2016 rowhouse fire after the first floor of the home collapsed. Senior Firefighter Ardythe Hope was hospitalized in critical condition for several weeks before she died.
Brad Speakman, injured in deadly Canby Park blaze, retires from Wilmington Fire Department