The historic building that once stood in downtown Wapakoneta, home to nearly two dozen people, was demolished due to a series of events beginning with arson. The man responsible was sentenced to prison on Thursday.
Wesley Slaughter was sentenced to the negotiated sentence of 19 years in prison for five counts of aggravated arson. He was also sentenced to pay over $32,000 in restitution with $9,300 to go towards five families affected by the fire.
The 20-year-old started the fire that severely damaged the Koneta Hotel. Two victims spoke about how tragic Dec. 23 was, but also expressed forgiveness.
"I have sat with this man and I have fed this man," said Lisa Evans, a victim. "I talked with this man. My life is recovered. It’s going to take a long time for him to recover his own."
"We were allowed back in to grab things for 10 minutes, but honestly, what can you grab in 10 minutes when some apartments were gone," Amy Andrus said, another victim. "Everything was either burnt charred or ruined by the amount of water."
Defense counsel said he was a troubled child, including hospitalizations. A combination of not taking prescribed medication and addiction to street drugs led to the arson.
"I should’ve stayed away from K-2," Slaughter said. "With what was going on with me, I don’t know why. I continued to use it even though I was making it worse. I just felt like I had to have it because I was using it through high school."
That combination led Slaughter to say he believed he was a demon hearing voices. He was on his way to commit suicide when a state trooper found him after the fire.
"This is truly a tragedy, but it’s a tragedy of your own doing," Judge Fredrick Pepple said. "People trying to help you. Getting you thinking clearly on some medication, to help in that regard and you don’t tell those people about the other drugs you’re doing?"
Slaughter will now be registered as an arson offender. He was given credit for having served 284 days in jail.
