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Man Accused Of Starting Holy Fire Pleads Not Guilty

SANTA ANA (CNS) - A man accused of igniting the Holy Fire that
blackened 23,000 acres in Riverside and Orange counties pleaded not guilty
today.
   Forrest Gordon Clark, 51, faces felony charges of aggravated arson
damaging at least five inhabited structures, arson of inhabited property, arson
of forest and making criminal threats. He is accused of setting the Holy Fire,
which began in the Holy Jim Canyon area on Aug. 6 and wasn't fully contained
until Sept. 13.
   The blaze forced the evacuation of thousands of residents and
destroyed 18 structures.
   During a two-day preliminary hearing in December, Orange County Fire
Authority Capt. William Lackey testified that Clark's next-door neighbor in
Holy Jim Canyon, Frank Romero, used his phone to record four minutes of the
defendant threatening to kill Romero hours before the fire was set.
   ``Mark my words, you're going to die at 12:37,'' Clark allegedly said
in the recording, which was mostly audio since it was taken through a bathroom
window screen that obscures the video, Lackey said.
   Experts suspect the fire started between 12:44 p.m. and 1 p.m. that
day, Lackey said.
   ``I clap my hands and people die,'' Clark allegedly said in the
recording, Lackey testified. ``I can wipe out whole families.''
   Clark also allegedly said, ``I'm (expletive) crazy now, and I can get
away with it,'' according to Lackey. ``I have 100 percent plausible
deniability.''
   Romero, who had been having disputes with Clark since he moved next
door 18 years ago, left his cabin about 7:30 a.m. the day the fire erupted Aug.
6.
   Romero thought the ``threats were credible and he was afraid of Mr.
Clark,'' Lackey testified.
   The fire captain said a 17-year-old girl and her 17-year-old boyfriend
made the first 911 call at 1:16 p.m., saying they saw flames in front of
Cabin 15, where Romero lived.
   Several years before the Aug. 6 alleged threats, Clark told Romero,
``If you mess with me I'll blow up your truck and burn down your cabin,''
according to Lackey.
   On July 15, Clark accused Romero of breaking into his cabin and
stealing from his neighbor, Lackey testified. Clark was involuntarily admitted
into a mental health hospital on July 23 and was released six days later, his
attorney, Nicole Parness, said.
   Also during the hearing, a U.S. Forest Service investigator described
his bizarre interview with Clark, who claimed he hadn't slept and had been
fasting for 40 days around the time the fire erupted. As a result, Clark said
he couldn't be sure if his recollections of what happened that day were just a
lucid dream or reality, investigator Albert Banh testified.
   Clark never admitted setting the fire, instead blaming it on
``Mexicans,'' and two of his neighbors in Holy Jim Canyon, Frank Romero and
Holy Jim Volunteer Fire Department Chief Michael Milligan, Banh said. Clark
claimed Romero and Milligan set the blaze to kill him and his cat, Banh
testified.
   Clark also complained someone had been stealing his keys and broke a
window in his cabin, Banh testified. The defendant also speculated that the
fire could have been started with candles, according to the investigator.
   At another point, Clark said, ``No, but maybe,'' when asked if he
started the blaze, Banh testified.
   Banh said he interviewed Clark twice over two days after the fire
started in August.
   Parness argued during the hearing that there was no physical evidence
linking her client to starting the blaze, and she also argued that prosecutors
failed to prove they had enough evidence the cause was even arson.
   She also said there was no proof Clark intended to carry out the
alleged threats he was making about Romero, especially ``given his mental
state'' at the time.
   Deputy District Attorney Jake Jondle argued that the recorded
statements of Clark belie claims he was mentally ill at the time.
   ``Here he's very clear, very explicit,'' Jondle said, adding the
defendant also brags he can ``get away with this.''
   Clark's criminal case was briefly suspended in August when his
courtroom outbursts led a judge to voice doubt about his mental competency.
Another judge on Nov. 28 found Clark competent to assist in his defense, and
criminal proceedings resumed.