Darrell James Wigham, 29, of Austin was charged on Friday in Mower County District Court for three counts of felony attempted first-degree murder-premeditated, felony first-degree attempted murder-with intent-while committing a felony and felony first-degree arson. Bail was set at $1,000,000.

According to the court complaint, Austin fire and police responded to a house fire at 9:55 a.m. on Wednesday at 304 11th Ave. SW. Two females and a male were asleep at the residence when the fire started. The women had to be rescued from the roof, while the male escaped from a first floor window. They told police that they did not live at the residence, but were helping a friend clean the place because she was being evicted. The women were asleep upstairs and the man was sleeping downstairs when the fire broke out.

The boyfriend of the woman being evicted from the residence called Wigham the night before to tell him to remove the three individuals from the residence, according to the complaint. He told a detective he came to the residence around 7 or 7:30 p.m. and no one was there, so he left the residence. Wigham arrived on the scene while the detective was speaking with the boyfriend. Wigham told the detective he had “kicked them out of the house” the previous night as requested, but that he had been allowed to stay at the residence the previous two nights. He then claimed he was at a meeting with the Department of Corrections at the time the fire occurred, then ended the interview because he believed he was being “set up”and left the scene.

The detective spoke to Wigham’s probation officer, who said she had an 8:30 a.m. meeting with Wigham that morning, but that he did not show up until 10 a.m., according to the complaint. He then spoke to a Mower County Correctional Services Agent whom Wigham is required to regularly check in with. The agent told the detective Wigham called him at 10:45 a.m. and said he was in Albert Lea.

The detective interviewed the three individuals at the residence when the fire broke out, according to the complaint. One of the women said she smelled a “chemical odor” at about 4 or 5 a.m. and asked Wigham, who was allegedly at the residence, if he was “burning the house down,” to which he allegedly replied, “Call me when the house actually burns down.”

She said he was pouring paint thinner on a door. She also said he had made comments about burning the house, but she did not take him seriously. A text message sent at 4:30 a.m. that morning from the man to one of the women, allegedly indicated that Wigham was trying to burn the house down.

The man told the detective that Wigham and the woman were always “butting heads,” according to the complaint. He said Wigham had come by the residence at 10 p.m. the previous night and then came back at 2 a.m. He said that after Wigham and the woman had an earlier altercation, Wigham allegedly grabbed a can of paint thinner, poured it on a door that led to the upstairs, then poured a trail up to the fireplace. He then allegedly poured water on the paint thinner and the glowing embers in the fireplace. While doing so, he allegedly commented he was going to “kill them.”

The man confirmed that one of the women confronted Wigham about it when he returned in the early morning hours, according to the complaint. Wigham allegedly told her, “You all just think I’m playing. You all just think I ain’t going to do (expletive) about it. You just watch when this (expletive) house burns down.” The man said he believed Wigham poured more paint thinner when they were asleep.

The fire marshal confirmed the fire was started with an accelerant.

A review of Wigham’s criminal history shows prior convictions for theft, burglary, check forgery, disorderly conduct and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was also recently arrested and charged with felony theft of a motor vehicle, felony theft of movable property and gross misdemeanor possession of stolen property.

Wigham is scheduled to appear in court again on March 22.