Woman cleared in deadly fire decade later

LAWRENCE, Mass., Feb. 19 (UPI) -- A 62-year-old grandmother is innocent on all charges stemming from a 1999 fire in Lynn, Mass., that killed five people, a jury has determined.

A Lawrence Superior Court jury acquitted Kathleen Hilton on charges of murder, arson,

and causing injury to a firefighter this week, a decade after the deadly fire took place, The Boston Globe said Thursday.

Hilton spent 10 years in prison awaiting her trial despite Superior Court regulations that state a suspect's arraignment and trial shouldn't be more than a year apart.

Hilton had been accused of setting fire to the home of her son's former girlfriend in 1999. The fire killed five family members living in the home, including three children, the newspaper said.

Police alleged that Hilton confessed to setting the deadly fire as retribution for her son's ex-girlfriend hindering access to his two children.

Attorney Michael F. Natola, who represented Hilton, claimed his client made such statements since she suspected her son had actually set the fire. The Globe said Hilton's son had an alibi that cleared him in the case.