GREENE COUNTY, Mo. — Deputies arrested a man who said he burned a barn down because he felt it belonged to him on March 31.
Derrick Williams Maples, 36, of Kansas City, was arrested on March 31 and charged with five felonies:
- First-degree burglary.
- Second-degree arson.
- Three counts of first-degree property damage.
According to court documents, the Greene County Sheriff’s Office got a call from Strafford on March 31 from a woman who locked herself in her bathroom out of fear of a person breaking into her house.
The caller knew Maples and was afraid of him due to his unpredictable behavior. She said she left the bathroom at one point and saw that the barn was on fire. She went back into the bathroom and heard the glass of the patio door break. She said Maples then walked through the house, yelling for her.
When deputies arrived, they discovered Maples sitting on the front porch of the house. He made “several spontaneous utterances” that he had set the barn on fire. He told deputies that he came by Uber and used a Duraflame starter log to set hay bales in the barn on fire. He said he left the area, but shortly after returned because the fire was getting too close to the house.
Maples had a cut on his hand. He said he received it when he broke the sliding glass door on the back of the house. Deputies saw that the door was shattered. A lighter featuring a Playboy bunny logo lay on the floor of the back patio. Inside, next to a Christmas tree, was a metal appliance dolly and black backpack that belonged to Maples. Damage was also found on a door that led upstairs where the victim had locked herself in a bathroom.
Due to previous incidents, Maples was not allowed to be on the property. The caller said Maples was upset because he was not in the family trust for the property.
A second victim showed up and said he owned the barn and its contents. There was a 2019 New Holland tractor inside. The second victim estimated that there was around $200,000 worth of items that were destroyed in the fire.
During an interview with deputies, Maples said that he had recently discovered his family had disowned him. He said he thought he deserved to have the farm. When it was decided he was not going to receive the farm in the family trust, he decided to burn the barn down. Maples said that he stacked some hay and logs inside the barn to make it easier to burn down.
Maples said he began to leave the area but then noticed that the fire was getting close to the house. He returned and broke into the back door.
Maples is scheduled to have a confined docket hearing at 8:30 a.m. on April 10, a criminal setting at 8:30 a.m. on April 19 and a preliminary hearing at 10:00 a.m. on May 3.
