A man accused of setting fire to four properties in St. John’s since last fall has pleaded not guilty to three of them.
Thirty-one year-old Alex Hayes was arrested in late January a day after someone set fire to an historic home next to The Rooms.
Photo by Edward Harold Butler
He’s charged with arson in that incident, as well as fires involving two sheds—on Empire Avenue and Fraser’s Lane—a week earlier.
Hayes is also linked to a fire at Freshwater Auto on October 30 of last year, but he has yet to enter a plea on that count.
(Photo via RNC of a fire at Freshwater Auto)
And he faces three counts of break and enter linked to the fires.
In court this morning, the Crown said with 16 or 17 witnesses set to testify, they’d need at least a week for the trial, which is set for late October.
Hayes, who has professed his innocence in court, remains in custody at His Majesty’s Penitentiary.
