BALTIMORE -- A man was acquitted Tuesday of setting a fire that killed six people in Baltimore's adult entertainment strip last April.
Gordon Wiggs, 53, was found innocent of six counts of first-degree murder and one count of arson.
'My reaction was pure delight,' said Luther West, Wiggs's attorney. 'Gordon reacted the same way I did, but he cried.'
The April 6 fire at the 408 Club killed five people, all of whom lived in apartments above the club, and a sixth victim who died of burns 11 days later. All six victims worked at nightclubs on the strip.
Prosecutors, who refused to comment on the verdict, had contended the fire was set because one of the victims who worked as a dancer on the block spurned Wiggs's affection. Two witnesses tentatively identified Wiggs as the man they saw in front of the club the night of the fire.
But West reminded the jury that two nurses at Francis Scott Key Medical Center's burn unit testifed one of the victims told them the blaze was set by another man.
The state had sought the death penalty in the case.
