Commonwealth v. Winter

Opinion by

Gunther, J.,

Defendant was convicted of arson and has appealed from the refusal of his motion for a new trial. The Commonwealth’s evidence was. circumstantial, and consisted, inter alia, of a signed confession and evidence that defendant committed a prior crime which purported to show motive and a plan. This appeal is predicated on the contention that such evidence was inadmissible until the Commonwealth had proven the corpus' delicti.

Defendant was accused of setting fire to a barn on the property of his two aunts. In order to indicate a motive, the Commonwealth introduced evidence…