A Wood County jury found an area man guilty of multiple arson and assault charges Thursday afternoon
following a three-day trial.
Christopher Egbert, 34, Kansas, was convicted of one count of aggravated arson, one count of arson, one
count of felonious assault and one count of assault in the courtroom of Judge Reeve Kelsey.
He was acquitted on an indicted charge of possessing a weapon under disability.
The jury deliberated approximately 5 1/2 hours before rendering a verdict.
Egbert was indicted on the arson charges, the weapons charge, and two counts of felonious assault last
spring, all stemming from a series of incidents reported on March 26, 2013.
The prosecution alleged that Egbert, after drinking and playing pool at a bar in rural Bradner, got into
a physical altercation with his wife, Tiffeny, pushing and shoving her, then beat her head multiple
times against a truck in the establishment’s parking lot, then struck and choked her.
He also allegedly bit one man, Gary Tyson, who was one of two men who intervened in the altercation.
Prosecutors further argued that after returning to their Sandusky County home, Egbert set fire to their
house and pole barn, and then drove to a property he and his wife owned on Greensburg Pike, allegedly in
an attempt to make it look as though he had been kidnapped.
In his closing arguments Thursday, defense attorney Merle Dech Jr. said the state had not proved that the
injuries sustained by Tiffeny Egbert and Tyson rose to the level of "serious physical harm"
required of a felonious assault charge – noting that neither of them immediately sought medical
treatment. He asked that his client be found guilty of the lesser included charge of assault. Regarding
the arson, "Christopher Egbert did not have the time to set these fires," he said, noting they
would have had to have been set within two minutes before Egbert allegedly left the residence.
Prosecutor Gwen Howe-Gebers, in a rebuttal, argued that both Tiffeny Egbert’s and Tyson’s injuries fit
the "serious physical harm" requirement, recalling an image showing damage to one of Tiffeny’s
fingers, and referring to a facial bite on Tyson that reportedly resulted in bruising and a blood clot.
In a demonstration, Howe-Gebers walked quickly around the courtroom in an attempt to show that the fires
could have been set in a speedy fashion.
Egbert was found guilty of the felonious assault charge involving Tyson; he was found guilty of the
lesser included charge of assault involving Tiffeny Egbert.
Kelsey ordered that a pre-sentence investigation be prepared. Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 4.