Montco woman on trial in torching of neighbor's home
It was supposed to be their longest-ever family vacation - and to their favorite destination. Almost exactly a year ago, Ernie and Christine Morris and their daughters, 11 and 14, left their home on a quiet cul-de-sac in Lower Pottsgrove, Montgomery County, for two weeks at Walt Disney World.
It was supposed to be their longest-ever family vacation - and to their favorite destination.
Almost exactly a year ago, Ernie and Christine Morris and their daughters, 11 and 14, left their home on a quiet cul-de-sac in Lower Pottsgrove, Montgomery County, for two weeks at Walt Disney World.
They had already decked out the house for Christmas. Their cat, Bandit, stayed behind.
A week into the trip, Christine Morris was awakened late one night by her husband's ringing cellphone. He told her to ignore it.
Then she saw a text message: "Your house is burning down."
The family home of 14 years was a charred shell. Bandit was dead.
As stunning may have been what came next: Police charged the Morrises' next-door neighbor, Donna Krupp, with setting the Dec. 4 blaze.
Christine Morris recounted the story for jurors Tuesday in a Montgomery County courtroom. Prosecutors say Krupp blamed police for her son's struggles - he had been in and out of jail, and struggled with heroin addiction - and took it out on the cop next door, Ernie Morris, a detective in Limerick Township.
Krupp, who faces charges including arson and criminal mischief, has maintained her innocence.
The Commons Drive neighbors were once friendly. Krupp's husband, Michael, sometimes watched football games with Ernie Morris.
But Christine Morris said she grew increasingly uneasy about Donna Krupp. Throughout 2014, she told jurors, "things spiraled out of control."
Krupp allegedly hid her son, Joshua Beauseigneur, in her home when probation officers or police arrived, or told them she did not know where he was. And her anger built against her neighbor, witnesses testified.
"She had a lot of animosity toward Ernie," said Gia Krystopa, who dated Beauseigneur.
Donna Krupp screamed at Ernie Morris outside their homes. The Morrises called police several times.
Michael Krupp testified that he believed Ernie Morris was trying to be helpful, but his wife "thought Ernie should be more of a neighbor and less of a police officer."
Before they left for vacation, and as their unease grew, the Morrises installed surveillance cameras at their home.
Footage played at the trial showed a hooded figure walking to a Christmas tree near the Morrises' front porch, setting the artificial tree on fire, and fleeing toward the Krupps' home.
Defense attorney John Fioravanti Jr. objected to testimony suggesting Donna Krupp set the fire, noting that the arsonist's face wasn't visible in the video.
Montgomery County Detective John Fallon testified that he noticed Krupp standing on her front lawn the day after the fire.
"The perpetrator [on the video] walks with a distinctive gait," he told jurors. Krupp's shape and "rocking gait," he said, were "very similar."
The Morrises came home the morning after the fire. Everything was lost, Christine Morris said.
Her daughters' belongings. Their 18-year-old cat. The veteran's memorial flag from her grandfather's funeral.
All that remains are some family photos that a restoration company was able to save.
The trial, before Judge Gary S. Silow, is expected to last the week.
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