Man found not guilty of setting Prince George motel fire that killed 3

A motel fire on Victoria Street in Prince George is seen on July 8, 2020. Courtesy Prince George Daily News.

The man who faced five charges in relation to a July 8, 2020 fire at a motel in Prince George that killed three people has been found not guilty on all counts.

Justin Kyle Aster was charged in 2021 with three counts of criminal negligence causing death and one count each of committing arson with disregard for human life and committing arson damage to property.

The fire ripped through the Econo Lodge on Victoria Street in downtown Prince George. After the fire, the bodies of Amos Miller, Curtis Fraser and Maryann Sanders were found inside. Forensic pathologists concluded they had all died of smoke inhalation.

Several other people were injured in the blaze, and the motel was severely damaged.

After a 12-day trial, on May 19, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Margo Fleming concluded that she was not satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that the fire was intentionally or recklessly set, according to the decision posted online on July 11.

RCMP fire investigators concluded that the fire had begun in the area of a stairwell in a courtyard at the east end of the motel, where a pile of various debris had been discarded from a renovation the day before.

They were unable to conclude exactly what heat source was used to start the fire, what material was first ignited, or the exact origin point of the blaze.

The Crown’s case against Aster largely hinged on CCTV video of him walking around downtown Prince George the day of the fire, including being present at the motel around the time the fire broke out.

The first signs of smoke were seen on video of the east side of the courtyard where the stairwell is located around 8:45 a.m., but the exact time the fire started isn’t known.

On video, Aster is seen “meandering” around the motel parking lot, where he looks for items on the ground, changes his clothes and smokes. He later told police he was looking for cigarette butts.

He is seen going behind the stairwell where the fire started twice, at 7:51 and at 8:43, for about 12 seconds each time.

He leaves the parking lot around 8:44 a.m. and walks about half a block away and is again seen looking for items on the ground.

Other people were observed in the stairwell area before the fire as well, including a “shadowy figure” behind the debris.

“Footage of Mr. Aster’s second visit to the courtyard only establishes that he was behind the east stairs for a matter of some seconds not long before smoke became visible, not what he did during that time,” the judge wrote.

“There is no evidence about the actual configuration of construction materials under the east stairs. Based on common sense and logic, in my view, the relatively short periods of time Mr. Aster spent behind the stairs are not consistent with closely examining what was there and organizing a fire conducive configuration,” she continued.

In addition, Fleming said she wasn’t confident the fire was started intentionally, as investigators had concluded, because of lack of evidence, including the time of the fire’s ignition and what set it.

She said the fire could have been set accidentally by an errant cigarette, or started as a smouldering fire caused by an oily rag, which the investigators also said could not be ruled out.

The Crown also said when Aster left the stairwell area, he did so briskly.

Fleming disagreed, saying there was no indication Aster was attempting to avoid being seen. He remained visible and at times was close to other people.

“I would characterize most of Mr. Aster's behaviour before and after the fire, that is meandering, looking at, and picking up things from the ground, as inconsistent with an intention to set a fire or having just set a dangerous fire,” she wrote.

The Crown also argued a motive for Aster, which included him being in an angry mood after an interaction with a Tim Hortons worker before arriving at the lodge—an interaction that was also caught on CCTV cameras.

He also told police that the motel staff “just don’t like natives,” and that people he knew had been kicked out.

Fleming said the Crown was “significantly overreaching” by suggesting the Tim Hortons interaction would have motivated him to set a fire later, saying Aster did not appear agitated afterward, and that the comment about the motel staff was made “quite casually.”

“The idea that Mr. Aster would have seized on an opportunity to reap revenge on the Econo Lodge owner by setting a fire under the stairwell, after noticing the accumulation of construction materials less than an hour before the fire, makes little sense to me,” she wrote.

The Crown also argued that Aster made inconsistent comments that undermined his credibility, including struggling to recall exactly where he was at exact times.

When pressed about what he was doing before the fire, Aster said he did what he did every day, looking for a high. The judge said his struggle to remember makes sense, given the video showing him meandering around various parts of the downtown area, including the area around the motel.

“Even if he had a good memory, his specific route would have been difficult to recall," Fleming wrote. “Aster said he had been using heroin that day and he used heroin every day. The drug use he reported provides important context for his comments about not remembering very much.”