Defendant requests reduced bond in arson-related death of Kansas City firefighters

A lawyer for the Kansas City woman accused of setting a blaze that killed two firefighters asked a Jackson County judge Thursday to reduce the bond the woman must pay to be released from jail while awaiting trial.

The judge set a Dec. 3 bond reduction hearing for Thu Hong Nguyen, 43, who owned a nail salon in the building that burned Oct. 12 at 2614 Independence Blvd.

She is being held in lieu of a $2 million cash bond. Prosecutors previously charged her with two counts of second-degree murder and one count of first-degree arson. She has pleaded not guilty.

Hong Nguyen denies the allegations, one of her attorneys, Bill Shull, said after the hearing Thursday.

“We will do our best to see that she gets a fair trial,” said Shull, a Liberty lawyer hired by Hong Nguyen’s family. Hong Nguyen also is being represented by Lexi Thanh Nguyen, a Shawnee criminal defense lawyer who is not related to her.

The court provided a interpreter to assist Hong Nguyen on Thursday.

Shull said he will submit a list of medications that Hong Nguyen should be taking for a health issue. He did not identify the issue but said that she has fallen twice in custody and also has experienced convulsions and seizures.

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

Relatives of the firefighters who attended Thursday’s hearing declined to comment afterward.

According to court documents, the fire originated in a storage room inside LN Salon and Spa. Hong Nguyen was the last person to leave the nail salon that night, the documents say.

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

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

This story was originally published November 12, 2015 at 2:25 PM with the headline "Defendant requests reduced bond in arson-related death of Kansas City firefighters."