NEWPORT, Maine — A 44-year-old man has been charged with arson in connection with an early August fire that gutted a Rutland Road home.
According to a court affidavit filed by Sgt. Kenneth MacMaster of the state fire marshal’s office, Kenneth Goodrich of Newport intentionally started the Aug. 8 fire that destroyed a home owned by his mother, Sandra Goodrich.
Kenneth Goodrich remained at the Penobscot County Jail on Wednesday. He faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted of the Class A charge of arson.
According to the affidavit, Sandra Goodrich had gone to the Newport police station the day of the fire requesting that they stand by because of her previous issues with her son’s verbal abuse.
“Sandra Goodrich arrived at her home moments ahead of [Newport police] Officer [Jesse] Gee and found the home to be on fire,” MacMaster said in the affidavit.
Upon seeing the fire, Goodrich reportedly fled into the woods across Rutland Road from the house and called 911. As investigators surveyed the scene, two dogs, a German Shepherd and a type of Labrador, were found dead in a bathroom, according to the affidavit.
An autopsy conducted on the deceased dogs revealed there was soot inside the dogs’ mouths, and no exterior signs of trauma were found.
Another dog was found alive and well in a run-down trailer in a wooded area of the property.
Police found a lighter in Kenneth Goodrich’s pocket the day of the fire, and he was taken to Eastern Maine Medical Center for a mental health evaluation.
According to the affidavit, Goodrich has a history of mental health issues, and he has been verbally abusive toward his mother, which she describes as “mental torture.” Goodrich had reportedly lived with his mother for the past three years, and the two were the home’s lone occupants.
About a week prior to the fire, Goodrich jumped into Sebasticook Lake and was rescued, but he kept jumping out of a rescue boat and had been taken to EMMC for an evaluation.
The house that was destroyed in the fire was the scene of a deadly Oct. 2009 shooting that left Sandra Goodrich’s husband, Perley Goodrich Sr., dead.
Perley Goodrich Jr., Sandra Goodrich’s other son, was captured after a five-day manhunt and convicted of manslaughter in May 2011. He is serving an eight-year prison sentence.
