Woman Accused Of Arson Held Without Bail Pending Dangerousness Hearing

LEOMINSTER (CBS) -- A woman accused of setting a Leominster home on fire Monday appeared in court Tuesday.

Linda Sbrogna, 54, of Leominster, was arrested on Monday night, hours after firefighters had put out the flames at a Douglas Avenue home.

Sbrogna was charged with setting a fire to the house and breaking and entering in the daytime with intent to commit a felony. She is being held without bail pending a dangerousness and competency hearing on Friday.

Her attorney entered a not guilty plea on her behalf.

The house she is accused of setting on fire, belongs to her neighbors Paul Legere and Rosemary Allen.

The couple says they had an ongoing dispute with Sbrogna over their stone wall which Sbrogna felt was a half inch over onto her property

"She decided to take it upon herself to completely dismantle the wall, I tried to get her to stop several times, restraining orders, harassment orders," said Legere.

Last week they came home to find the futon in their living room ablaze, that almost gutted the house and they were forced to move out.

They immediately suspected Sbrogna.

"It bothers me to think that while we're not home she was in that house," Allen said.

Three days later, someone set a pile of debris on fire in the driveway, flames spread to the house. That's when Legere decided to set up a camouflaged camera on a tree by his driveway.

On Monday, it captured an image of what police say is Sbrogna in their back yard, shortly after the back porch caught on fire at 1:30 in the afternoon.

"We have footage of her coming and going, and she needs to explain herself," Legere said.

A neighbor also took video of Sbrogna walking back to her house after Monday's fire. The police report says Sbrogna "admitted" to entering the porch through an unlocked door and setting a carpet on fire, she turned the lighter over to police.

"It was evil things every single day this woman was relentless, relentless," Allen said.