Woman bound over for trial in Dexter nursing home fire

DEXTER, Mo. -- A woman charged in relation to a November fire set inside a nursing home appeared in court Thursday and was bound over to appear in Division 1.

Joyce Johnson, 59 of Campbell, Mo., is charged with first-degree elderly abuse and first-degree arson. Following testimony Thursday by investigating officer Lt. Trevor Pulley of the Dexter Police Department, Judge Joe Satterfield found sufficient cause for Johnson to be bound over to stand trial. She will appear March 21 before Judge Stephen Sharp.

According to Pulley's probable-cause statement, the bed of a 73-year-old resident at Golden Living Center-Dexter, a roommate of Johnson's, had been set on fire with the resident asleep in the bed.

Employees were interviewed and several noted that Johnson had been the last person in the room.

In the initial interview with Johnson, Pulley said she denied any involvement with the fire. In another interview, she admitted to having set the fire. She then admitted to setting the fire with a lighter and that she had thrown the lighter away but could not remember where.

She was arrested Jan. 18 in Dunklin County.

Johnson is being held at the Stoddard County Jail in lieu of a $35,000 cash-only bond.

Pertinent address:

Dexter, MO