A jury heard opening statements Tuesday in the trial of former businessman Todd Russell Fries, who is accused of setting chemical bombs and trying to kill a Tucson couple.
Fries, who is in prison after being convicted on federal charges related to this case, faces a 27-count state indictment, including two counts of attempted first-degree murder. He also is accused of arson, kidnapping, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, endangerment and other crimes.
The charges stem from a 2009 incident in which chlorine tablets mixed with other chemicals were set on fire outside the house of a northwest-side couple, causing plumes of chlorine to spew into the air.
In Pima County Superior Court, Deputy County Attorney Sterling Struckmeyer told the 14-juror panel, which included two alternates, that Fries started the βLevine projectβ to terrorize and try to kill Myles and Karen Levine after a dispute between the couple and Friesβ company Burns Power Washing.
Struckmeyer said Fries became irate when the Levines refused to pay $500 for driveway repairs in 2008. The couple previously hired Fries to fix the driveway at their Marana home, but said it was slippery after Fries finished the job.
In October 2008, the Levines found swastikas and anti-Semitic phrases painted on their property, along with dead woodpeckers and motor oil spread on their driveway.
Struckmeyer said former employees of Burns Power Washing told authorities Fries asked them to defecate in buckets and collect animal carcasses so he could place them on the Levinesβ property.
Authorities found Friesβ fingerprints on the buckets at the Levinesβ property, Struckmeyer said.
The Levines moved to the area near the Omni Tucson National Golf Resort, but in July 2009 they saw motor oil strewn across their property, he said.
When they tried to open the front door, they found it was sealed shut, he said.
βThen all of a sudden they start to see white smoke,β Struckmeyer said.
Firefighters with the Northwest Fire District estimated the cloud of smoke stretched about one-mile wide, he said.
Defense attorney Richard Bock said Friesβ actions amounted to little more than malicious mischief.
Fries built up a power-washing company that had contracts with hospitals, the University of Arizona, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base and residences, Bock said.
βThe state wants you to believe all of this was put at risk for a $500 check,β Bock said, adding a former employee of Fries will testify that Fries regularly gave refunds to unsatisfied customers.
The fingerprints found at the Levinesβ house only show that Fries worked on the property, Bock said, and no eyewitnesses tied Fries directly to the crime.
Bock also cast doubt on the content of the chemical cloud, saying chlorine tablets can be purchased at hardware stores and authorities never determined which product caused the cloud.
The only injuries associated with the chemical cloud were watery eyes and irritation, βjust like if you went to a pool that was over-chlorinated,β Bock said.
Fries also is accused of six counts of taking the identity of another person. Struckmeyer told the jury in one instance a womanβs wallet was stolen and found with a handwritten note saying she had cleaned the Levinesβ house.
However, Struckmeyer said the note was not in her handwriting and she had never met the Levines. Friesβ fingerprint was found on the wallet.
Fries is currently serving a 17-year sentence in federal prison after being convicted in 2012 and 2013 of two counts of unlawful possession and use of a chemical weapon, providing false information to federal agents, and two counts of unlawful possession of unregistered destructive devices.
The trial before Pima County Superior Court Judge Richard Fields is scheduled to last nearly three weeks.
