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Houston Ketter, age 41, of Albany, was found guilty of attempted murder and related charges by an Albany County jury on Monday Oct. 23.
According to the district attorney’s office, Ketter “acted in an especially cruel and wanton manner” when he set the first victim on fire near Bradford and Robin streets in Albany on Nov. 13, 2022.
After dousing the 38-year-old victim in charcoal lighter fluid, he set her on fire, the Albany Times Union reports. An eyewitness testified that Ketter then turned around and laughed as the woman screamed in pain.
The woman suffered second- and third-degree burns to 26-percent of her body but survived. She testified against Ketter, telling jurors that he was upset because she owed him money for drugs, the Times Union reports.
Months after the first attack, in January 2023, Ketter burned his girlfriend with a heated kitchen pot, causing second- and third-degree burns, prosecutors said.
In court Monday, jurors found Ketter guilty of the following:
- First-degree attempted murder
- Second-degree attempted murder
- Two counts of first-degree assault
He faces up to 50 years to life in prison when he’s sentenced on Tuesday, Dec. 19.
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