Update Jan. 15: At a preliminary hearing Wednesday, the charges of arson and criminally negligent burning were both dismissed against Kimberly Ketter after an attorney for the state said no evidence had been drawn. Both were dismissed by the court.
Ketter’s attorney said that she would like to proceed with the case, and a pretrial hearing for the remaining charges of disorderly conduct and violating conditions of release was set for Feb. 11 at 2:30 p.m. in Homer, followed by a trial the week of March 10.
Original story:
Kimberly Ketter, 41, of Homer was arrested by Alaska State Troopers on Saturday, Jan. 4 in connection to a structure fire that occurred at a residence out East End Road that same day.
Ketter, who previously ran for a seat on the Homer City Council in 2016 and 2017, is charged with one count of second-degree arson, one count of second-degree criminally negligent burning, one count of violating conditions of release and one count of disorderly conduct.
Troopers in Anchor Point responded to Saturday’s fire along with the Homer Police Department, Kachemak Emergency Services and the Homer Volunteer Fire Department. According to AST dispatches from Jan. 4, the fire was “quickly controlled,” however, the residence was mostly consumed.
According to an affidavit by Trooper Marco Fischer, at approximately 6:16 p.m. on Saturday, AST received several calls about the structure fire and were advised that “there was a female identified as Kimberly Ketter, who was screaming and yelling something about Jesus, gasoline and fire and the female was experiencing either a mental or drug induced psychosis.”
The residence, an 8-by-12-foot cabin, belonged to Paul Cooper, who works as a taxi driver in Homer. According to Fischer’s affidavit, Cooper confirmed that Ketter lived in a camper on his property and that he let her use the shower and sometimes stay in the cabin “when it is extremely cold outside.”
Fischer also wrote that AST had “known history of prior contacts” at Cooper’s property for previous domestic violence disturbance calls between Cooper and Ketter. Cooper told Fischer on Jan. 4 that he had previously attempted to evict and remove Ketter from his property, including serving her a “notice to quit” last September, “but there was not a courts reason to evict her” and she remained on the property.
Ketter told troopers at the scene that her shower had somehow been “rigged with gasoline” and that she thought someone was trying to kill her, according to the affidavit.
Troopers conducted a breathalyzer test on Ketter, who was found to have a 0.164 breath alcohol content. Troopers took Ketter to the hospital for medical care before remanding her to the Homer Jail, where she remains in custody.
In addition to the charges from Jan. 5, Ketter has an open misdemeanor case for interference with emergency communications, for which she was arrested by HPD on Dec. 29. According to the affidavit, Ketter’s conditions of release on this charge state that she must obey all court orders and all federal, state and local laws, and must not consume or possess alcohol.
A preliminary hearing for Ketter for the charges brought on Jan. 4 is currently scheduled for Jan. 15 at 4 p.m. in the Kenai Courthouse.
A GoFundMe campaign was started by Amy Andree to raise money to help Cooper rebuild his house. Further information can be found at www.gofundme.com/f/help-paul-rebuild-after-fire-loss.
