IOWA CITY – An Iowa woman is in deep trouble after she allegedly set her husband’s truck on fire then later asked him if it was still ablaze, helping cops piece together the crime.
Iowa City police announced they made an arrest in the Aug. 23, 2023, arson investigation at 1601 Aber Ave. Ashley M. Bunting, age 40 of Iowa City, faces one count of second-degree arson.
The incident occurred sometime between 1 AM and 4:45 AM on Wednesday, August 23, 2023, at 1601 Aber Ave. Multiple items outside of the apartment building were intentionally set on fire, police say.
According to a police affidavit in the case file:
On Wednesday, August 23, 2023, the victim reported that his truck had been doused in gasoline and that parts of his truck were burnt. ICPD officers responded
to the scene and found that another vehicle in the parking lot also had accelerant on and near it and parts of it were burnt. ICPD Crime Scene Technicians and
Investigators from the ICFD processed the scene for latent evidence. Partial hand prints were located on the truck and in the accelerant. Those partial prints
were recovered and sent off to the DCI for analysis. Additionally, samples of the accelerant were collected and sent off for analysis. In late September, I learned from the DCI that the accelerant samples from the vehicle tested positive for a gasoline mixture. The partial prints also matched known palm prints from the defendant. The defendant is going through a divorce and custody issues with the victim. Through my investigation, I learned that the defendant had emailed the victim in September asking about his truck and if it still smelted. A search warrant was obtained for the defendant’s electronic records and her Google records show she was searching out the fire scene on Google Maps in the hours preceding the incident. Additionally, the defendant’s cell phone records show she powered off her phone from Tuesday, August 22, at 2357 hours, until Wednesday, August 23, at 0242 hours. This is abnormal and doesn’t match the defendant’s other cellular activity. Records also show the defendant deleted her Google location and search history for the time of this incident.
