A 43-year-old Oakdale man has been spared any further incarceration and was put on probation for setting fire to his house last winter and killing five of about dozen of cats that were living there.
Joshua L. Buhl was sentenced Tuesday in Washington County District Court after being convicted in December in a bench trial of fifth-degree arson and five counts of animal cruelty in connection with the blaze on Jan. 22 in the 1100 block of Grenada Avenue.
Judge Siv Mjanger gave Buhl credit for the three months he spent in jail after his arrest and chose probation for him over any further time locked up.
Police responded to neighbors’ 911 calls and found Buhl standing outside his house holding a lighter.
“I started the fire,” the charges quoted him as saying. He said he felt as if he were under the influence of methamphetamine and drugs might be in his pocket. Police arrested him once he “began behaving erratically,” the charges read.
Firefighters extinguished the flames and said the living room was the primary burn area. They found a gasoline can in the home and said the front door was barricaded shut.
Buhl later told police he started the fire in order to get the attention of law enforcement. He said he believed computer hackers were out to get him and that a relative had stolen his identity.
