Ramona Gas Station Owner Gets 15 Years for House Fire That Caused Employee's Death

James Kurtenbach "created a bomb, in essence," said Judge Herbert Exarhos Tuesday, as he sentenced the owner of Stars gas station on Main Street to 15 years and eight months behind bars for conspiring to burn down his Mount Woodson home in 2008 to collect insurance.

It was a "bomb" that took the life of Joey Nesheiwat, 24, who had been Kurtenbach's employee at the gas station for at least six years. Nesheiwat's body was found outside the home on Halloween morning, with second- and third- degree burns over 85 percent of his body. It's thought that he ignited the fire at Kurtenbach's request, although the judge, defense and prosecution noted Tuesday that the exact way the fire ignited is still unknown.

"It could have been just the turning on of the lights," the judge said, as he passed down the sentence. Kurtenbach and Nesheiwat had been to the home a few days earlier to douse it with gasoline.

Neighbors heard Joey screaming in the wee hours of Halloween as the unoccupied home went up in flames, prosecutor Fiona Khalil said Tuesday. She had dropped the charge of second-degree murder against Kurtenbach when a jury deadlocked during the trial.

Nesheiwat's mother, Terry Sellers, faced Kurtenbach in the courtroom Tuesday, her voice shaking.

"How could you?" she asked him.

She told the judge, "Jim even said that [Joey] was like a son to him. If he was like a father to my son, why would he send my son?"

The judge said that Kurtenbach was "the brains of the operation," and that he sent others to do his bidding.

Nesheiwat's brother, John, testified during the trial that he drove Joey to the home and waited for him to come back out. He heard an explosion that rocked his car, and Joey never returned. Kurtenbach later called him and told him to keep his mouth shut and that he would pay for the funeral, the jury heard during the trial.

Kurtenbach, 49, was found guilty in October of conspiracy to commit arson, arson causing great bodily injury, failing to disclose an event affecting an insurance claim, and vandalism. Jurors also found that the defendant used a device to accelerate the fire and committed the arson for monetary gain.

Sellers sat quietly sobbing in the courtroom, with her son John and surrounded by friends.

During her victim impact statement, Sellers told the judge, "He came to them not once, not twice, but three times. What were they going to do? Lose their jobs? Then they would have been homeless. He knows it in his heart. I'm begging you to give him the right sentence."

Exarhos said he considered, "the indifference and callousness shown by the defendant," and "the seriousness" of the crime in deciding on the sentence.

Defense attorney Paul Pfingst, a former San Diego County District Attorney, made a lengthy and passionate plea for a lesser sentence, based on the fact that Nesheiwat wasn't an "innocent victim" but had willingly participated in the crime.

"It took him about a minute to get involved," Pfingst said.

But the judge rejected the argument.

Khalil reminded the judge that Kurtenbach "lived through the wildfires of 2003 and 2007. He knew the risk that he was putting this community through."

Kurtenbach and his wife own a home in the Twin Peaks area of Poway.

"He still decided to go ahead with his plan, with no regard for the people of Ramona and this county," Khalil said. "The defendant demonstrated criminal sophistication, and the employee may have felt obligation," she continued. "And there are emotional damages. Neighbors heard the screams as [Nesheiwat] died and they'll never forget it. Property values have decreased and that property is not improved."

She noted that Kurtenbach had never once expressed remorse for Nesheiwat's death.

"He will be a danger to others," Khalil said. "He has a history of committing fraud, lying, cheating and only caring about his own financial gain. For many years, he did not feel the need to pay property taxes. He lied about the value of a gas station he owned."

Khalil said during the trial that Kurtenbach's financial problems were building when he decided to incinerate his Mount Woodson house, which he twice tried to sell after getting divorced, remarried and buying his other house in Poway. He owed more than $39,000 in taxes on the property and $16,000 in taxes on his Poway home at the time of the fire, the prosecutor said. Kurtenbach settled a lawsuit in Nebraska for $200,000 and increased his insurance coverage on the Mount Woodson house just before the fire, Khalil said.

Kurtenbach told others that he wished the Witch Creek wildfire in 2007 would have burned his house down, Khalil said during the trial. His son, Justin, gave testimony about that. Kurtenbach recruited Nesheiwat and his brother, John, to burn the house, telling them the job would be easy, Khalil said, adding that he tried get Justin Kurtenbach to do it. The younger Kurtenbach told his father he wouldn't participate, Khalil told the jury.

The blast damaged a neighboring house and sent debris into the street. The Kurtenbach house, which had an estimated replacement value of $915,000, was destroyed.

Outside the courtroom, Pfingst said the sentence will be appealed because the victim had participated in the crime.

Khalil said she was happy with the sentence, which was the maximum Kurtenbach could have received. "I think it sends the right message to the community," she said.

Sellers told reporters that she hates Kurtenbach "with a passion."

She later smiled and hugged friends and family. Some wished her, "Happy holidays" and "Merry Christmas."

One reporter asked her if the sentencing seemed like a holiday gift.

Sellers smiled and said, "Oh, I'm going to go visit him," referring to Kurtenbach. She had told the judge that the reason Kurtenbach had been like a father to her boys was because her husband had been ill.

"What will you tell him?" the reporter asked.

"I'll tell you later," came the response.

City News Service contributed to this report.