Man sentenced to prison in arson-for-hire case
A Petrolia man was sentenced Thursday to two to five years in prison after pleading guilty in a 2017 arson-for-hire case.
According to investigators, Robert J. Wilhelm, 40, of Petrolia was paid $1,000 to burn down a two-story house at 111 South St., Butler, on May 29, 2017. Last month, Wilhelm pleaded guilty to arson and burglary. As part of the sentence Judge Timothy McCune handed down, Wilhelm must pay $150,000 to three parties, including State Farm insurance.
“Mr. Wilhelm is extremely remorseful,” Wilhelm's court-appointed lawyer, Patrick M. Casey, said on Wednesday to McCune. “He voluntarily confessed. He was quite literally haunted by the events of that night.”
For nearly 10 months, police were unable to find the arsonist — but after receiving a tip, according to police, Wilhelm and William L. Gold, 51, of Butler were charged in the case. Gold has not pleaded guilty to anything, and court records show his case is in the process of going to trial.The blast in the house was so powerful, police said, that the front door shot clear across the street and the back wall of the house was completely blown down.The day before the torching, the two men reportedly broke into the rental home and stole a safe — believed to contain money — that belonged to the tenants, a pair of suspected Philadelphia drug dealers.Trooper Luke Nelson, a deputy fire marshal, said the fire was started to cover up the burglary. Nelson said Wilhelm confessed to entering the house and pouring gasoline throughout it. Nelson said that the blast was so powerful because Wilhelm poured gasoline on the home's furnace in the basement.McCune also sentenced Wilhelm in a separate case to a jail term of 72 hours to six months for driving under the influence on April 30, 2017. Wilhelm must also serve 60 hours of community service and pay a $1,000 fine.
