Man Convicted of Arson in 2011 Fire

A state Superior Court jury has convicted a former Norwich, Connecticut, man of arson for a fire that injured two firefighters, displaced 10 people and caused $400,000 in damage to a Norwich apartment building.

But jurors found Marwan Chankar not guilty of attempted murder of a tenant who evicted him shortly before the 2011 fire.

Attorney Theodore Koch, who represented Chankar, said he was disappointed by the guilty verdicts. He said the jury's decision convicting his client of arson and criminal mischief, but not of attempted murder was strange.

Chankar faces up to 25 years in prison on the first-degree arson conviction and five years on a first-degree criminal mischief conviction when he is sentenced Jan. 8.

He is already serving a 58-month sentence on an accessory to robbery conviction.