The murder case against a Peachtree City couple accused of killing his 71-year-old mother in a 2008 home fire has been dropped because of an investigative error.
According to court documents obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, evidence vital to prove that Scott and Valerie Lynn Dahlman burned down their home with Scott Dahlman’s invalid mother, Francis Dahlman, trapped inside appeared only weeks ago, just months before jury selection.
“It was a circumstantial case, like most arsons are, but it was a tryable case,” Fayette County assistant district attorney Warren Sellers told the AJC.
But Sellers said the Peachtree City fire marshal investigating the case failed to include a video from the fire scene showing a white sheet imprinted with a burn pattern in investigative materials given to the state fire marshal.
On the morning of Aug. 31, 2008, firefighters were called to a blaze at the Dahlman’s home in the 400 block of Abrell Woods Court.
When the fire was extinguished, rescue workers found the badly burned body of Francis Dahlman in a reclining chair.
She was airlifted to Grady Memorial Hospital, where she later died.
The Dahlmans were arrested and indicted in December 2009 on charges of malice murder, two counts of felony murder, arson and aggravated assault.
In documents Sellers filed Monday with Senior Fayette County Superior Court Judge Byron Smith, the prosecutor acknowledged that the case couldn’t be prosecuted.
“The white sheet was not photographed, seized, entered on any chain of custody, secured or properly maintained by the Peachtree City fire marshal, and was thus not considered by the state fire marshal in his fire scene analysis,” Sellers wrote in legal brief. “… the above, when considered with other evidence … will create a reasonable doubt as to the guilt of the accused … while there was probable cause for the arrest, there is insufficient evidence to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Scott Dahlman told the AJC that he was pleased with the ADA’s decision.
“We feel this decision reflects the fact that, in the end, the prosecution focused on the truth,” Scott Dahlman said. “I’m going to begin the process of properly mourning.”
Sellers said the appearance of the new evidence would lead the defense to question whether the Peachtree City fire marshal properly followed the scientific method required to determine arson.
“The fact that [the sheet and/or the video] hadn’t been collected at the scene undermines the integrity of the investigation,” Sellers said.
The trial date was set for mid-July.
John A. Garland, attorney for the Dahlmans, said he anticipated Monday’s outcome, but he said he was prepared to defend his clients with experts who would have supported their innocence.
“The facts overwhelmingly support the determination that Francis Dahlman’s death was a tragic accident, and the Dahlmans are innocent,” Garland told the AJC on Tuesday.
Glenn Allen, spokesman for Georgia’s state fire marshal’s office, said the state investigator assigned to the case didn’t receive the video in question until April 28 this year, nearly 20 months after the fire took place and the investigation began.
“But our opinion does not change that this fire was intentionally set,” Allen said. “Hopefully, the DA will revisit this case.”
For now, however, Sellers said the case is closed.
“It’s extremely frustrating,” he said. “But unless some new evidence comes to light, we can’t see any new charges.”
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