People v. Demera

Defendant was convicted on an indictment charging the felony of burning his residence with the intent to defraud an insurance company.

The facts are that defendant owned a store in the city of Fresno, where he conducted a grocery business, and lived with his family in a house adjacent to and connecting with the store building and having a common wall. On the night of February 5th or the morning of February 6,1922, at about 1:45 o’clock A. M., his house was discovered to be on fire from a fire originating in the basement of the house. The defendant and his family had gone to Sanger at 11…