Guilty Plea to Wakefield Fire

A young man from Ironwood pleads guilty to a recent fire that destroyed a vacant Wakefield home.

19-year-old Matthew Wester has pleaded guilty to arson of a building and several breaking and entering charges.

Those are all 10-year felonies.

The fire happened at the Indianhead Mountain ski resort 2 and a half weeks ago.

Wester still faces charges related to other break-ins at condos at that ski area.

26-year-old Michael Parker of Ironwood and 19-year-old Michael Thomas of Montreal, Wisconsin are his co-defendants.

Wester testified against both of them during a preliminary exam.

He said the 3 broke into the condos and took what they stole to a storage unit in Ironwood.

Wester also said once they broke into the home, they torched it to destroy evidence because they were worried they’d left fingerprints.