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Woman gets prison for burning home

She gets 30 months. Jurors spent about an hour convicting her of torching a dentist's house.

BELLEAIR BLUFFS - A woman was sentenced to 30 months in prison this week after a jury found her guilty of torching her boyfriend's home on Christmas Day 2002.

After a one-day trial, jurors took just over an hour to convict Andrea Via, 48, of arson. Judge Raymond Gross sentenced Via to 30 months in prison, which was within sentencing guidelines. She has no prior criminal record.

Investigators said Via started the fire at 803 Camellia Drive, the home of her then-boyfriend, Dr. Richard Papineau, a Largo dentist.

The fire caused about $300,000 in damage to the 2,700-square-foot home, fire officials said. No one was injured, although two cats, two birds and a number of fish perished. Firefighters were able to rescue a boa constrictor from the burning house.

At the time of the fire, Via listed her employer as a local animal hospital.

Investigators said Papineau and Via had fought earlier that day. He asked her to move out of the home by the end of the month. He left the home, and Via spent the day tossing cigarettes into the garage, where a number of flammable fluids were kept.

Prosecutor Donny Kilfin said Via was "hoping that something would happen and that she was going to teach him a lesson."

Early that evening, neighbors called 911 after seeing fire in the garage. Crews arrived to find the flames working their way into the home. The blaze was fueled by two 20-pound propane tanks that were stored in the garage.

Firefighters found Via outside the home. She was evasive in answering firefighters' questions, only saying she had been in the living room when the fire started. She later admitted to investigators that she had set the fire with the cigarettes.