State v. Smith

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Price, J.:

This is an appeal from a conviction of arson in a prosecution brought under G. S. 1949, 21-584, the provisions of which make it a felony for any person willfully, and with intent to defraud the insurer, to set fire to or burn personal property either of such person or owned by another, when, at the time, such property is insured against loss or damage by fire.

In the summer of 1950 the defendant, his brother John, and his father Frank, were operating as custom cutters in the western Kansas wheat harvest. John owned a 1940 ton and a half truck;…