The man found guilty of setting his ex-girlfriend’s house on fire after she refused his demand not to testify against him in a brutal assault case is on his way to state prison for 25 years.
Todd Griffin was sentenced for striking the woman over the head with a hammer and leaving her for dead two years ago. Then two years ago, he set fire to the house where she was living while nine people, including four children, were inside.
Although Griffin admitted to the crimes in papers filed during his trial, he argued with State Supreme Court Justice Joanne Winslow, repeatedly objecting that he wasn’t violent and saying “no I didn’t” when the judge said he’d set the fire. Griffin refused to sign an order of protection to leave the victim alone.
Prosecutor Eleanor Biggers says the hammer attack was horrifying and left the victim’s house covered in blood. She says Griffin set the second house on fire knowing the back door was nailed shut and people could die.