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Charles Smith: Set Accomack County Fires for Love

Virginia State Police

Charles Smith says he set the fires in a series of arsons in Accomack County from November of last year to April of this year out of love for his fiancé.

Smith and Tonya Bundick were arrested April 2nd .

Since then Smith has pleaded guilty to 67 arson counts and one count of conspiracy to commit arson.

The Salisbury Daily Times reports that during a video of an interrogation by Virginia State Police he said that the fires were her idea and that he helped her because he fell in love with her.

Ultimately, he said that Bundick set 17 fires.

Smith says he hated setting the fires except for one at the derelict Whispering Pines Motel.

As to why Bundick set the fires, Smith says, it seemed to relieve some of the stress over personal problems.

Bundick is now out on bail and has not been tried on one count of arson and one count of conspiracy.    

Don Rush is the News Director at Delmarva Public Media. An award-winning journalist, Don reports major local issues of the day, from sea level rise, to urban development, to the changing demographics of Delmarva.