CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (AP) - A man who told police he was upset by a pay cut has admitted setting fire to a southeast Missouri office complex where he worked.
The Southeast Missourian reports (http://bit.ly/vZAlMG) 26-year-old Mark Carleton faces up to seven years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree arson Monday in Cape Girardeau Circuit Court.
The fire broke out at the Cape Girardeau complex just before midnight on Nov. 21 and caused an estimated $500,000 damage.
Carleton worked for a company that occupied two floors of the complex, and officers found him at the scene with a respirator mask. According to court documents, he told investigators he was angry over a pay cut and started the fire with a cigarette lighter and some paper.
The office complex was condemned Nov. 22.
Information from: Southeast Missourian, http://www.semissourian.com