Hearing is rescheduled for woman accused of setting blaze that killed two KC firefighters

A judge Thursday rescheduled a bond reduction hearing for a Kansas City woman accused of setting a blaze that killed two Kansas City firefighters.

Bill Shull, a lawyer for Thu Hong Nguyen, who is charged with two counts of second-degree murder in the Oct. 12 fire, had requested the hearing last month.

Prosecutors on Wednesday had filed “suggestions of opposition” to any bond reduction, Shull said Thursday, adding that documents he had requested from prosecutors had yet to be supplied to him.

Jackson County Associate Circuit Judge Jalilah Otto then announced the hearing would resume at 9 a.m. Dec. 11.

Family members of fallen firefighters Larry Leggio and John Mesh were present in the downtown Kansas City courtroom but did not address the court. Nor did Fire Chief Paul Berardi.

A Vietnamese interpreter translated the proceedings for Hong Nguyen, who did not speak.

Hong Nguyen, 43, owned a nail salon in the building that burned Oct. 12 at 2614 Independence Blvd. She has been held in lieu of a $2 million cash bond.

Hong Nguyen, who also has been charged with one court of first-degree arson, has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Leggio and Mesh died when the the eastern wall of a half-block-long building collapsed as they battled a 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. Hong Nguyen was the last person to leave the nail salon that night, the documents say.

Court documents also associated Hong Nguyen with two previous fires and said she had told investigators that she received insurance proceeds from those two fires.

Shull said Thursday that he had witnesses ready to testify that they had received insurance proceeds from those fires and that Hong Nguyen did not receive money in connection with them.

This story was originally published December 3, 2015 at 4:34 PM with the headline "Hearing is rescheduled for woman accused of setting blaze that killed two KC firefighters."