Eagan Woman Charged with Intentionally Setting Fire to Own House

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An Eagan woman has been charged with intentionally setting fire to her home in March and claiming that her husband was trying to kill her.

Patricia Joy Klatt, 63, is facing a charge of first-degree arson, a felony with a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $20,000 fine.

According to the criminal complaint, Eagan police were called to a home in the 1200 block of Deer Ridge Court on March 2 to check on Klatt’s welfare.

Police had been at the home 10 hours earlier after being told that Klatt had been drinking and was having “mental health issues,” according to the complaint. At the time, Klatt was arguing with her husband, who called police; the second call was made by one of Klatt’s daughters.

Police met the daughter of one of Klatt’s neighbors, who told them that Klatt was intoxicated and was at the neighbor’s home. When the daughter went to Klatt’s home to check on her husband and dog, she smelled smoke and shouted to police that she could hear smoke detectors going off inside the house.

Police entered Klatt’s home and found it full of smoke. Officers found no people or pets in the home, but they found two different fires: one in the living room, where the curtains were on fire, and the other in an upstairs bedroom.

Firefighters were called to the scene and extinguished the fires.

Police spoke to Klatt at the neighbor’s home. She was uncooperative and denied drinking, but witnesses told police that she had been drinking, and officers could smell alcohol on her breath, according to the complaint.

When Klatt went to the neighbor’s home, she went inside after using a garage code and a key. The neighbor came downstairs to find Klatt in her house.

Klatt told police that her husband was trying to kill her. When they questioned her about it, she told them it was none of their “[expletive] business,” according to the complaint.

Police learned that Klatt’s husband had left their home about midnight with one of their daughters after the initial argument, and that they had not returned.

An Eagan officer accompanied firefighters into Klatt’s home and took photographs, noting that someone had apparently tampered with the smoke detectors. He also found a written obituary for Klatt, along with a list of songs that she wanted played at her funeral.

The fire marshal, investigating the scene later, found at least two points of origin for the fire and three other possible areas in two different rooms where a fire had been started on lace curtains, but had failed to spread.

Klatt is scheduled to make a first appearance on the charge July 2 in Dakota County District Court in Hastings.