Valentine’s Day arsonist admits guilt

A Revelo man, who set a vehicle on fire next to a Lot Mud Creek home on Valentine’s Day, has agreed to spend the next decade behind bars.

Paul Hyslope, 40, pleaded guilty last week to an amended charge of second-degree arson and one single count of attempted murder in exchange for prosecutors recommending a 10-year prison sentence.

On March 9, a Whitley County Grand Jury indicted Hyslope for first-degree arson and four counts of criminal attempt to commit murder, and he could have faced up to 20 years in prison on each count had he been convicted.

Whitley County Sheriff Lawrence Hodge said Hyslope had become infatuated with the woman, who lived at the residence.

"I guess he mistook kindness for love," Hodge said. "They got into it or she just told him to quit calling her, and he went up there and set the car on fire under the carport. He poured gas on the car, and then walked off and left it."

Hodge said the woman’s neighbors saw the fire start about 2:30 a.m., and people passing by observed Hyslope jump on his four-wheeler as the car was starting to burn.

"Only a quick acting neighbor saved that house from total destruction because they pulled the car out of the driveway away from the house. Otherwise the whole house would have been engulfed in flames," said Commonwealth’s Attorney Allen Trimble.