Accused arsonist blames her son
Emporium woman, son plotted to burn house

An Emporium woman accused of conspiring with her son to burn a home she owned in Bradford took the witness stand in her own defense Thursday.

Debra Miczo, 48, pinned the blame on her son, Terry Bornheimer, also of Emporium, claiming that he hatched the plot.

Bornheimer, 20, has already admitted to setting fire to the vacant home on Kennedy Street in August 2007. The blaze spread to three neighboring residences, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage and leaving 11 people homeless.

Bornheimer pleaded guilty to charges of arson and acting as an accomplice, through an arrangement worked out with District Attorney John Pavlock in return for his testimony against Miczo. He was sentenced to 16 months to four years in state prison.

Miczo is being tried in McKean County Court on five counts of arson, a charge of criminal solicitation and related offenses.

Defense attorney Harold B. Fink called Miczo to the witness stand Thursday. She described emotional and health problems dating back to her service in the U.S. Marine Corps, including an inordinate fear of violence-prone men.

Miczo said she and her husband moved from Bradford to Emporium due to problems between Bornheimer and neighbors. She claimed her son ordered her to drive him to Bradford on the night of the fire and she complied, out of fear.

"I didn't believe he would do it," Miczo said, referring to the arson.

Pavlock introduced a parade of witnesses over a three-day period, including Bornheimer and Donna Falmlee, an operations supervisor from the Social Security Administration.

Falmlee said Miczo's family stopped receiving benefits after moving to Emporium, since the unoccupied Bradford residence was then classified as an asset.

Bornheimer said the loss of benefits and other financial pressures prompted Miczo to suggest that the Bradford house be torched.

Sandra Stewart, a Cameron County caseworker for the Pa. Dept. of Public Welfare, testified that Miczo applied for assistance in October 2005, but was denied because the Kennedy Street house was considered an asset. She added that after the house was destroyed, the family received welfare benefits.