Former Sauk Prairie resident sentenced to prison for stealing $80k from employer, setting house on fire

By Capital Newspapers Staff Reports

JUNEAU -- A Columbus woman who was convicted of setting fire to her home and stealing more than $80,000 from her former employer was sentenced Friday to prison.

Dodge County Judge John Storck sentenced Sauk Prairie High School graduate Krista S. Meeker, 34, to three years in prison and two years of extended supervision for stealing $83,321 from All Phase Electric Inc. in Beaver Dam while she worked as a bookkeeper for the company from June 2006 to March 2007.

She had written checks to herself and to her creditors from the business.

In a separate case, Storck stayed a seven-year prison sentence on a felony conviction of arson and ordered Meeker to serve 15 years of probation on the charge.

According to the criminal complaint, financial problems had mounted for Meeker before she set fire to her home at N5727 Lark Road in Columbus in April 2008. The Meekers hadn't paid their 2007 property taxes, were behind on mortgage payments and both of their vehicles were about to be repossessed.

Evidence that arson might have caused the fire surfaced when wood samples taken from a kitchen cabinet tested positive for a chemical accelerant. Witnesses also reported that Meeker commented that she wished the house would burn down so she could buy a new one, according to the criminal complaint.

Meeker told investigators she had recently taken out a homeowner insurance policy that insured the structure for $300,000, personal property for $210,000 and also provided $75,000 for increased living expenses.

When questioned about the blaze, Meeker told investigators that she had moved a burning candle under a full roll of paper towels and, "deep down I hoped it would burn. I really didn't think it would," according to the complaint.

Meeker must pay restitution to Sentry Insurance and All Phase Electric.