How a Sudbury man was convicted of triple murder for orchestrating arson

A Sudbury, Ont., judge has explained why first-degree murder charges against a local man weren't thrown out in a recent fatal arson case, even though the men who actually started the fire had no intention to kill anyone.

A Sudbury, Ont., judge has explained why first-degree murder charges against a local man weren't thrown out in a recent fatal arson case, even though the men who actually started the fire had no intention to kill anyone.

Following a six-week trial, Liam Stinson, 27, was found guilty May 3 of first-degree murder in three deaths.

A fentanyl drug dealer, Stinson admitted he directed two men to throw Molotov cocktails into a Bruce Avenue townhouse on April 11, 2021, at 4:40 a.m., and start a fire inside the kitchen.

Sleeping inside were Jamie-Lynn Rose, Stinson's estranged girlfriend, David Cheff, another drug dealer who lived at the townhouse, Guy Henri and Jasmine Somers.

Only Cheff survived.

At one point during the trial, Justice Dan Cornell rejected a defence application "for a directed verdict of acquittal on all three counts of first-degree murder."