Police and neighbors talk about Gwinn murder and arson case
GWINN — Both police and neighbors are talking about the arrest of a Gwinn man on murder and arson charges.
Steven Zintman, 45, is accused of felony murder and first-degree arson.
The charges come from a fire at 609 Valkyrie Street at K.I. Sawyer on May 4th. Sally Plume, 46, who lived in that home, died in the blaze.
The Forsyth Township Police say they believed for quite some time that Zintman was responsible, but it took five months to gather the information they needed.
“Arson cases take the longest to sort out or resolve themselves,” Forsyth Township Police Interim Chief Adam LaFave said. “There’s a lot of reports that we waited on to collect all the available evidence to have charges requested and authorized.”
If convicted, Zintman could face life in prison without parole on the felony murder charge and life *with* the possibility of parole on the arson charge.
A neighbor says many people in the neighborhood were awaiting his arrest.
“He’s been a problem on the block here,” neighbor Chad Thibeau said. “Happy to see him gone. Hopefully, he’ll be out of there for good and not come back. I don’t even know how they could allow him to live in that mess, to be honest.”
Zintman is in the Marquette County Jail on $2 million bond. His preliminary exam is scheduled for November 3rd.