Man is suspect in Doniphan fire that killed wife, son

DONIPHAN, Mo. -- A day after a Doniphan man buried his wife and toddler son who died in a house fire, he is in jail on suspicion of starting the fire.

Ripley County Sheriff Ron Barnett said Michael Payne was arrested about 4 p.m. Thursday at the sheriff's department on suspicion of first-degree arson.

The bodies of Payne's 23-year-old wife, Valerie, and their 15-month-old son, Eli, were found April 8 by firefighters in their home southwest of Doniphan.

Smoke inhalation was the cause of death for mother and son, according to autopsies performed at Farmington, Missouri.

Payne was arrested by an investigator with the State Fire Marshal's Office, Ripley County Sheriff Ron Barnett said.

Barnett said the fire marshal investigator is "actually working on it. We're trying to get with him."

At this point, Barnett said, it is unknown whether Payne will be charged.

"We'll just have to see," Barnett said. "He's just being held on a 24-hour hold to keep him confined (while) we look at paperwork to see if we do anything or not."

Authorities learned of the fire about 4 p.m. April 8 when a neighbor called the Ripley County Sheriff's Department.

Payne, who was "on fire," was trying to get out a front window of the home and to pull a crib out with him, Mike Wicklund Jr., fire chief of the Current River Volunteer Fire Department, said.

A retired firefighter was able to get Payne out, but they were unable to get out the toddler.

Wicklund said Valerie Payne was in a back room trying to get out, but "she perished in a hallway."

"I believe she was asleep in one room, and the baby was asleep in the other room, and Mr. Payne was outside and came running in to get them," Wicklund said.

During the fire, Michael Payne suffered what Wicklund described as second- and third-degree burns to his arms, hands, shoulders and back. He was treated at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center.