EAU CLAIRE, Wis. – An Eau Claire man, already with a record of arson, was charged with setting a fire where his wife and six others, including three children, were living. Thomas Hicks, 41, was charged with seven counts of attempted intentional homicide, seven counts of recklessly endangering safety, and one count of arson. Court documents mention domestic abuse. Bond was set at $1 million. Police called it “revenge arson.” Police said Hicks was upset at his wife of seven years whom he accused of cheating. He started a fire in a downstairs bedroom and left, the complaint said. Police noted that Hicks also set a fire in revenge aimed at an ex-wife in 2009. Investigators said that a lighter was used to start the new fire in trash in a downstairs bedroom, Shown the lighter, Hocks admitted it was his, police said, His wife was not home bur returned from work to find the house ablaze. She was quoted in the complaint saying that that she had been arguing with Hicks through text messages earlier in the night. One message said: “You are going to be sorry.”
Earlier: Husband held as arson suspect
Hicks. Convicted of arson in 2010 in Rhinelander and sentenced to four years in prison, four years of extended supervision, and five years probation.