Photo – Harry Burkhart
LOS ANGELES – A jury has found 30-year-old German national Harry Burkhart to be sane following his September 2016 conviction for arson. Beginning on December 30, 2011 he set 47 fires under cars and near houses, in the Los Angeles area.
The fires were set in Hollywood, West Hollywood and the San Fernando Valley.
Apparently Burkhart was angry that his mother had been arrested in America in connection to alleged crimes she committed in Germany.
He had already been found guilty of 25 counts of arson of property, 18 counts of arson of a dwelling, 2 counts each of possessing an incendiary device, attempted arson and arson of a structure.
Burkhart now faces a sentencing hearing on March 23, in which his maximum penalty will be 88 years and 8 months in prison.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant Head Deputy District Attorney James Falco and Deputy District Attorney Joy Roberts of the Target Crimes Division.
A press release from the District Attorney’s office states, “The case was investigated by the Los Angeles Fire Department’s Arson and Counterterrorism Section, the Los Angeles Police Department, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.”
