Man convicted of setting fire to an abandoned trailer and burning a woman alive
A Sacramento County jury has found a man guilty of first-degree murder for setting fire to an abandoned North Highlands manufactured home and burning a Rio Linda woman alive, prosecutors announced Tuesday afternoon.
Along with the murder charge, William H. Thomas was convicted of arson in the death of 28-year-old Aryanna Doyle, according to a news release from the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office.
Doyle encountered Thomas on March 31, 2018, when she walked to a nearby park. Prosecutors said Thomas was seen earlier that day setting fire to small pieces of garbage at the park.
Doyle left the park with Thomas. He took her to the nearby abandoned trailer home in the 7500 block of Costa Mesa Circle. The following morning, on Easter Sunday, the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District was called to the burning abandoned trailer. The home was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived.
Firefighters found Doyle’s badly burned body inside the trailer. Prosecutors said video from a security camera at a nearby trailer showed Thomas walking away from the burning home within minutes of the call reporting the blaze.
Thomas was arrested about a month after the deadly fire. He was already in custody at the Sacramento County Jail on two other arson charges when he was arrested in connection with Doyle’s murder.
A crime lab analyzed evidence and confirmed Thomas’ semen was found on swabs taken in the woman’s autopsy. Trial testimony from a forensic pathologist confirmed Doyle was still alive when the fire began to consume her, according to prosecutors.
Thomas, 38, faces a maximum sentence of 50 years to life in prison for the April 1, 2018, fire. He remained in custody Tuesday at the jail. Thomas is scheduled to return to court March 17, when Sacramento Superior Court Judge Michael Bowman will sentence.
This story was originally published February 11, 2020 at 4:32 PM.
