LOS ANGELES, March 15 (UPI) -- The California wildfire that killed five firefighters may have been set as a diversion to free a pit bull from a pound, a relative of the alleged arsonist said.
Jill Frame, a cousin of arson suspect Raymond Lee Oyler, told investigators that Oyler wanted to set the mountain on fire to spring the dog, The Los Angeles Times said Thursday.
Oyler's attorney dismissed Frame's statement as partly the product of a family feud.
Oyler, 36, has a Monday hearing date in a Riverside courtroom to determine whether there is evidence to proceed with his first-degree murder trial.
He has been charged with the five deaths in October's Esperanza fire, which burned 40,000 acres west of Palm Springs. He also was charged with arson in 10 earlier fires.
