In an article titled “Madison-Plains arson probe is heating up,” Madison Press (London, Ohio) staff writers Steve Smith and Jim Boggan report. Excerpt:
LONDON — Out-going Madison-Plains Superintendent Adam Miller has provided what he called “an alibi” as investigators increase their efforts to solve the Nov. 29 arson fire on the campus in Paint Township.
A modular structure near the middle school was deliberately burned. The fire destroyed files and computers and Miller said at the time that the arsonist may have “targeted” the district’s computer servers. No damage estimate has been provided, but the losses were all covered by Nationwide Insurance.
The Madison County Sheriff’s Office and the state Fire Marshal continue to investigate but have yet to solve the case.
The Fire Marshal’s office has increased the amount of manpower assigned to the investigation and officials have begun the process of asking individuals to take polygraph examinations. That list may include Miller and former high school principal Richard Sykes, who was terminated by Miller the day before the blaze, but “it’s not just those two,” sheriff’s Lt. Jim Sabin said Monday.
“There was a mutual agreement at this point in the investigation to offer polygraph examinations to various individuals to give us more guidance on where to go on this investigation,” Sabin added.
Sykes has had no comment on whether he was asked to take a polygraph or whether he agreed to do so. Miller said he was not asked.
The exams are routinely performed at the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation and it takes time to get an appointment so no testing has been administered yet.
On Wednesday afternoon, Jan. 30, the day before Miller submitted his written resignation to school board President Sherry Kuehnle, sheriff’s Sgt. Doug Crabbe and Fire Marshal’s Investigator Rick Smith visited Miller at the Madison-Plains administrative offices.
“The state Fire Marshal said his goal was to eliminate as many people as he could and to narrow down his search,” Miller said of the meeting.
He said Smith told him that seeking polygraphs was a “normal process” in an arson investigation. “He did not say ‘I want you to take one,’ ” Miller said. Crabbe said the investigators did not ask Miller to take the polygraph because Smith became more interested in Miller’s alibi.
Miller told The Madison Press on Tuesday, and said he told the investigators on Jan. 30, that his white car was being serviced at Hugh White Honda in Columbus at the time of the fire. Crabbe said a white car was seen leaving the scene of the fire and that represents one of the few clues available to investigators.
Miller said he picked up his son the afternoon of the fire at a daycare site in Grandview Heights and took the child home before going to get his car serviced. Miller said he got the first cellular telephone call from Larry Kimbler, head of school maintenance, telling him there was a fire while he “was literally sitting in the waiting room at Hugh White Honda.”
Miller said Smith told him that the alibi was “good enough,” but the sheriff’s office confirms that investigators are seeking to corroborate the story.
“I provided him a copy of the service record at Hugh White Honda proving my whereabouts,” Miller said, adding that after hearing his story Smith “didn’t ask me to do anything concerning a polygraph.”
Miller said he went to the car dealership about 7:30 p.m. that night and was there until 9 p.m. The blaze was reported just before 8 p.m. when a student and his father were leaving a percussion class with teacher Michael Courtright. The three alerted a middle school custodian, Matt Clickner. In addition to the Central Townships Fire Department and the sheriff’s office, Clickner contacted Kimbler, who in turn called Miller.
Sabin said Monday that others will be asked to take polygraph examinations.
He added that refusing to take a polygraph does not mean that a person has something to hide. Some people are “uncomfortable” with a polygraph or “have concerns” about the mechanism, which is more commonly called a “lie detector.”
“It’s just another tool that we utilize,” Sabin added.
Anyone accused of a crime — whether innocent or guilty — should refuse to submit to a polygraph “test”: the “test” has an inherent bias against the truthful and is little more than a fraudulent ploy used to interrogate suspects in the absence of legal counsel.