Blaze not likely arson

ANDERSON, Mo. -- Investigators expect to rule out arson as the cause of a fire that killed 10 people at a group home for the elderly and mentally ill, a police spokesman said Tuesday.

Sgt. Jason Clark of the Missouri State Highway Patrol said investigators did not have any suspects or persons of interest in the blaze, which authorities had previously described as suspicious.

Clark said detectives did not expect to discover evidence indicating the fire was deliberately set. He declined to answer other questions about their findings pending a news conference scheduled for today.

Officials have revealed little about what may have sparked the flames, which originated in an area that included a living room and some bedrooms.

Coroner B.J. Goodwin said most of the victims had been asleep when the fire broke out, noting they were found in their pajamas and were not wearing shoes. All of them died of smoke inhalation, he said.

Police said 33 residents and two employees were there when the fire started at the Anderson Guest House. The blaze injured about two dozen people and stunned this town of 1,800 people in Missouri's Ozark hills.

As the investigation continued, questions emerged about the home's owner, who had been convicted in 2003 in a Medicare fraud case. The conviction raised the issue of whether he was legally allowed to operate the place.

Robert Joseph Dupont, 62, was found guilty for his part in a scheme to bilk the federal program and was sentenced to nearly two years in federal prison.

Missouri law prohibits a felon convicted of a crime involving a health care facility from being an "operator" or "principal" of a long-term care facility, but Dupont's exact role at the home was unclear.

In a 2004 federal bankruptcy petition, Dupont listed his occupation as executive director of the Joplin-based group home operator River of Life Ministries Inc. The ministries group operates the group home.

But Dupont's name has not been listed on any document received by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services from the ministries since 2002, department spokesman Nanci Gonder said.

After The Associated Press pointed out the apparent discrepancy, Gonder said state officials would investigate Dupont's involvement with the ministries.

The agency, which licensed the group home, "would have serious concerns if an excluded individual were involved in operating the facility," Gonder said.

Dupont did not respond to repeated calls to his Joplin home and office seeking comment. Ministry officials said Dupont was at the group's headquarters but unavailable.

Nursing home industry watchdogs said Tuesday the distinctions between a licensed operator and a facility's owner are murky.

"That's something we've never been able to determine," said Phyllis Kranbeck, secretary of the not-for-profit Missouri Coalition for Quality Care. "We just have never been able to get a satisfactory answer."

State records show Dupont and his wife, LaVerne, own property and buildings on the site of Joplin group homes, with River of Life Ministries as the licensed operator. Robert Dupont was listed as a ministries officer in the group's 2002 articles of incorporation.

A spokesman for Gov. Matt Blunt said there is no prohibition against a felon owning the land and buildings for a group home. "I'm told he is not affiliated with this entity in any legal sense," Blunt spokesman Brian Hauswirth said.

The home had fire alarms but no sprinklers. Under state law, it was not required to have sprinklers, because it was only one story high and because it was built before 1980.

Also Tuesday, police identified eight of the victims: Amy Brown, 37; Nathan Fisher, 52; Patricia Henson, 54; Brian Rudnick, 33; Don Schorzman, 57; Alta Lemons, 74; Isaiah Joyce, 25; and Glen Taff, an employee of the home who was believed to be 19.

Taff and his 18-year-old wife, Amanda, were the only employees at the home when the fire began. Officials said the pair tried desperately to rescue residents.

"He went in and out of the building three times," said Shirley Brannon, who said she manages the home. "The fourth time, he didn't make it back."

Taff's wife remained hospitalized with burns.

"They took her out of the house screaming. She didn't want to come out. She was trying to get the rest of them," Brannon said.

The couple had been married for just six months, Brannon said.

Victims' relatives grew anxious for answers about the fire.

"We just want to know why," said Judy Lemons, 36, Alta Lemons' daughter. His niece Diana Gow said: "This has been the hardest thing I think we've ever been through. We expected her to pass on some day but we sure didn't expect this."

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Associated Press writers Alan Scher Zagier in Joplin, Mo., and David A. Lieb in Jefferson City, Mo., contributed to this report.