Nail salon operator accused in fatal fire makes her first court appearance

A nail salon owner accused of setting a fire that killed two Kansas City firefighters two weeks ago made her first court appearance Wednesday morning in Jackson County.

When asked during the brief hearing whether she could afford a lawyer, Thu Hong Nguyen nodded before asking what that would cost.

Jackson County Associate Circuit Judge Jalilah Otto said she would refer Nguyen to the public defender’s office but added that Nguyen was free to hire her own lawyer.

Otto set Nguyen’s next court date for Nov. 12. She is being held in lieu of a $2 million cash bond.

Prosecutors charged Nguyen, 43, of Kansas City, on Tuesday with two counts of second-degree murder and one count of first-degree arson.

Kansas City firefighters Larry Leggio and John Mesh died when the eastern wall of a building collapsed as they battled the Oct. 12 blaze in the Northeast area. Two other firefighters were injured.

According to court documents, the fire originated in a storage room inside LN Salon and Spa at 2614 Independence Ave. Nguyen, the owner, was the last person to leave the nail salon that night.

Court documents associated Nguyen with two other fires. One occurred in July 2013 at a Lee’s Summit nail salon where Nguyen worked. That fire’s cause was ruled accidental. The second fire occurred in January in a vacant apartment just above the Kansas City salon and caused damage to the salon. That fire was set intentionally, officials said.

Nguyen told investigators that she received insurance payouts from both fires, according to court documents.

This story was originally published October 28, 2015 at 11:27 AM with the headline "Nail salon operator accused in fatal fire makes her first court appearance."