FOSTORIA — Three Fostoria people charged with setting a fire that killed a man and a woman and injured another woman and was ruled an arson were arraigned in Fostoria Municipal Court today, with their cases continued until next week, authorities said.
Bond was set at $2 million each for Shey Weiker, 31, of 151 Taft Blvd., and Timothy Hall, 20, of 126 Findlay St., and at $1.5 million for Charles Schaeffer, 44, also of the Taft Boulevard address. The court did not allow the three to be released by posting 10 percent of the bond, and they all remain in the Seneca County Jail this afternoon. They‘re due back in court June 3. All three have asked for court-appointed attorneys.
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The suspects were accused of setting an arson house fire early Monday at 614 S. Poplar St., in which Danny Marker, 48, and Tara Lynn Vance were killed and Dana D. Weatherhall was injured, according to complaints filed at the court. Mr. Marker and Ms. Vance were pronounced dead at the scene, according to Fostoria Fire Capt. James Walters. Ms. Weatherhall was flown with burns to ProMedica Toledo Hospital, where her condition was listed as fair today.
Ms. Weiker was charged with four counts aggravated arson, two counts aggravated murder, and one count each of attempted aggravated murder and tampering with evidene. Mr. Schaeffer was charged with four counts complicity to commit aggravated arson, two counts complicity to commit aggravated murder, and one count complicity to commit attempted aggravated murder. Mr. Hall was charged with four counts of complicity to commit aggravated arson, two counts complicity to commit aggravated murder, and one count each of complicity to commit attempted aggravated murder and complicity to tamper with evidence.
Shane Marker, 40, of Fostoria, said his brother Danny Marker was hearing-impaired and partially blind. The other two victims were visiting from the Ohio School for the Deaf in Columbus, according to Shane Marker. Both are women about the same age as his brother and also are hearing-impaired, he said.
Fostoria police said the fire was reported at 3:05 a.m. Firefighters brought the blaze under control by 8:30 a.m., according to Captain Walters. An unidentified firefighter suffered minor injuries while inside the residence when he fell through a flight of stairs. He was treated and returned to work Monday, officials said.
Investigators ruled the fire an arson. The fire started at the front of the house, police said. No motive was given.
Shane Marker said his brother telephoned their mother at 2:59 a.m. and told her he “smelled smoke.”
His mother then went by the house, saw fire on the porch, and went to get Shane Marker, who lives nearby.
When the two arrived, the front of the house and the roof “were all engulfed in flames,” Shane Marker said.
He said he was still shaken by a recent assault on his brother, one of several Danny Marker endured. The beating was extensive enough to require Danny Marker to have nose surgery.
Shane Marker also said his brother was a victim of multiple break-ins.
“Danny was funny,” Shane Marker said. “And he’d help anyone at the drop of a dime. Neighbors came to me and talked about how nice he was. He helped them with anything.”
The fire was under investigation by the state fire marshal’s office.
Fostoria, in Hancock, Seneca, Wood counties, is about 35 miles southeast of Toledo.
Contact Mike Sigov at: sigov@theblade.com, 419-724-6089, or on Twitter @mikesigovblade.
First Published May 27, 2014, 8:49 p.m.