Oberlin bowling alley owner guilty of arson

OBERLIN, Kan. -- An Oberlin business man will be sentenced Tuesday, March 24, for setting fire to and destroying the bowling alley he co-owned in Oberlin.

A jury Feb. 19 found Kenneth Morgan guilty of one count of arson, for the fire that destroyed Centennial Bowl and the Red Crown Lounge on May 30, 2005. He was found not guilty of a second arson charge.

According to the Oberlin Herald newspaper, nurses and emergency room personnel from Community Hospital of McCook testified about burns to Morgan's hands and what turned out to be the false identity information that Morgan provided at the hospital several hours after fire. One testified that Morgan smelled of smoke.

Morgan, who identified himself at the hospital as Gary Marks of rural Danbury, told hospital personnel that he had burned his hands while lighting a wood-burning stove. During the trial, Morgan said he burned his hands when he touched an aluminum-framed door on the south side of the burning bowling alley. He told his attorney during questioning at the trial that he had not told anyone that he spilled gasoline on his hands.

Morgan testified that he had closed the bowling alley/lounge at 1 a.m. that Monday and made a deposit at the bank at 2 a.m. Andrew Bauch, a prosecuting attorney from the Kansas Attorney General's office, told Judge William Elliott and jurors that Morgan's partner, Maurice Zodrow, called Morgan at 3:52 a.m., to tell him the bowling alley was burning. It took Morgan 15 minutes to arrive on the scene, Bauch said.

Photographs taken after the fire show that the business's desk and file cabinet doors were open, although Morgan testified that he did not leave them open. Rolled quarters valued at $300 and a key to the south door of the bowling alley have never been found, and missing beer and alcohol were never accounted for. A sledge hammer was found in the ruins. A security system wasn't working that night.

Morgan and Zodrow had been trying to sell the business for $250,000, with little or no interest, Herald report Kimberly Davis wrote. The building was insured for $250,000 with Lloyd's of London. The defense attorney, David Baumgartner, said the building was underinsured.

It took the jury two hours to return with the verdict of guilty.