Motions to dismiss charges and reduce bond for the man arrested in connection with the death of a 26-year-old woman and her 17-month-old son in 1995 were filed earlier this month by the defense counsel.

Scott A. Hickman, 49, Waterford, was indicted by a Washington County grand jury in October 2021 on charges of murder and aggravated murder after Kimberly Fulton and her son Daniel were killed in a house fire at their residence at County Road 6, Palmer Square, Waterford, on March 5, 1995.

Hickman’s attorney, James Owen of Columbus, filed the motions questioning witness credibility and the lack of evidence to convict Hickman of the murders.

Owens filed a motion to dismiss the case stating “the prosecution of (Hickman) in this matter violates his due process right to a fair trial without undue, pre-indictment delay,” the motion said.

The memorandum said the prosecution caused prejudice to Hickman “and his ability to defend his case more than 26 years after the alleged offense occurred and more than 23 years after a grand jury issued a No Bill in 1998.”

Another potential suspect was mentioned in the memorandum, the person who owned the property on which Kimberly Fulton lived.

“(The property owner), by all accounts, hated Kimberly Fulton and (had) been threatening to move her trailer off his property, leaving her with nowhere to live,” the memorandum said.

The evidence collected at the scene of the fire could not be located and the memorandum said it was likely destroyed in a flood.

“In addition, (the State Fire Marshal’s Office) did not preserve critical information: PDFs of the raw data from the gas chromatograph testing on samples taken by the fire marshal’s office,” the memorandum said.

Owens said the defense council requested autopsy photographs, notes, radiology and microscope slides from the Franklin County coroner’s office and the Montgomery County coroner’s office. The Franklin County coroner’s office has not yet responded and the Montgomery County office said they do not have the autopsy photos and has not responded to a request for radiology notes.

A memorandum in support of the motion to reduce bond from $2 million to a $100,000 cash or surety bond, talked about the “primary person of interest,” the biological father of Daniel.

“Law enforcement, however, was unable to interview (him) because he asserted his right to counsel and refused to speak. Due to law enforcement’s inability to speak directly to (him), they targeted one of his close friends and a part-time employee, Scott Hickman,” the memorandum said.

The State Fire Marshal’s office found no evidence of accelerants in its 1995 investigation and the causes of death for Kimberly and Daniel were “undetermined” by the state coroner’s office, according to the memorandum.

“The state’s testing did not rule out arson but did rule out the use as an accelerant,” it said.

Hickman’s “on again and off again” girlfriend was interviewed a few months after the fire and she said during the previous week, Hickman “sat straight up, still asleep, in a cold sweat and said ‘don’t do that, don’t do that’ real excitedly,'” she was quoted as saying in the memorandum.

Over three years later, Hickman’s then-girlfriend was brought to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office for questioning. During the interview, she said Hickman told her he was there when the fire happened and said he made it seem like he was there when gas was poured on the trailer.

The girlfriend said Hickman had a weird way of speaking and that he would use “riddles and rhymes.”

A few months after her interview, Hickman was charged with murder and was issued a polygraph test, which indicated he was not involved with the deaths, the memorandum said.

When the case was brought before a grand jury in 1998, the jury “did not find probable cause to believe that Scott Hickman purposefully caused the deaths of either Kimberly or Daniel Fulton,” the memorandum said.

Hickman was indicted a second time in October 2021 for Kimberly and Daniel’s murder, after which he pleaded not guilty to all counts. The memorandum said the defense counsel went through more than 3,500 pages of discovery and over 60 audio and video files and “there is virtually nothing new of significance.”

Through the findings, the memorandum said three things “stand out:” a fire investigator stating the exact cause of the fire is undetermined, that Hickman’s then-girlfriend had not presented any new information when she was interviewed more recently and another person was interviewed saying they saw another suspect driving by the scene slowly with Hickman in the passenger’s seat.

Detectives said in July 2021, they interviewed Kimberly’s then ex-husband who provided that information.

“He said that he remembered seeing Scott Hickman in the passenger’s seat 26 years earlier but didn’t see how that could be important,” the memorandum said. “It is hard to believe that (his) recent recollection could be viewed as significant even if true, since half the town was driving by, including many Amish in horse and buggy.”

Motion hearings are scheduled in Washington County Common Pleas Court with Judge Mark Kerenyi and a jury trial is set for Feb. 7, 2023.

Candice Black can be reached at cblack@newsandsentinel.com.