Documents: Man lit house on fire, attempted to kill girlfriend who tried to evict him after learning of his criminal past

A Spokane man set his girlfriend’s Hayden home on fire and tried to shoot her because she tried to kick him out after learning of his criminal past, according to court documents.

Kenneth Thomas Wilson, 59, is charged with arson, aggravated assault and unlawful possession of a firearm.

A SWAT team responded to 821 W. Dee Court on Sunday after a caller reported a man had shot her sister, according to court documents.

When police arrived, they heard gunshots and saw smoke coming from the house, according to court documents.

Two women had already escaped from the home to call 911. The resident of the home jumped through a window to safety, according to court documents.

She told police she had been dating Wilson for a few months when she learned of his violent past.

Wilson was sentenced to five years in prison in 2017 for assaulting his girlfriend with a hammer, according to court records and news reports in the Olympian.

The new girlfriend had recently learned of his conviction and was worried for her safety. The girlfriend stayed at a friend’s house then returned to her residence the next day to find Wilson was gone, she told police. The girlfriend didn’t stay at the house that night, instead returning with friends at about 11 a.m. on Sunday.

It appeared that Wilson was not at the house, witnesses told the police.

The girlfriend went upstairs to use the restroom and then heard Wilson outside the bathroom, she told police. It was later discovered he had been hiding in a closet when the group returned to the home, according to court documents.

Wilson raised a pistol toward one of her friends in the hallway so the girlfriend sprayed him with bear spray, according to court documents.

He then fired a shot, witnesses told police.

The girlfriend and her friends hid and eventually were able to escape the residence.

Officers discovered that Wilson had started a fire in the basement of the home, according to court documents. Fire crews extinguished the fire, which had spread from the basement to the attic.

Wilson remains in the Kootenai County Jail.