An inheritance dispute may have led a former state trooper to burn down his brother's house in the Higganum village of Haddam on Thursday, police said.
Ronald Carlson, 50, of Portsmouth, Virginia is facing charges after admitting to setting a fire at his brother, Thomas Carlson's 575 Candlewood Hill Road home, police said. A fight over inheritance may have been the motive.
He confessed to police that he used gasoline to torch the house and his brother, Thomas wasn't home at the time of the blaze that destroyed his house, police said.
A Go Fund Me account that Haddam First Selectwoman Melissa Schlag set up for Thomas Carlson has raised $1,000 to help him get back on his feet.
Police charged Ronald Carlson with first-degree arson and third-degree burglary.
