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Man accused of burning down Bidwell Mansion pleads not guilty

Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey presents surveillance footage of the suspect at a press conference on Jan. 6, 2025 in Oroville, Calif.
Erik Adams
/
NSPR
Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey presents surveillance footage of the suspect at a press conference on Jan. 6, 2025 in Oroville, Calif.

The man accused of burning down Bidwell Mansion in Chico entered a not guilty plea in court today.

In a brief appearance, public defender Larry Pilgrim told the judge that Kevin Alexander Carlson, 30, is pleading not guilty to charges of felony arson.

The judge scheduled a preliminary hearing for March 11. Pilgrim also requested a court date for Feb. 5 to confirm the status of the case before moving forward.

Carlson was arrested earlier this month. The charges he faces could lead to an 11-year prison sentence.

The Bidwell Mansion burned down in the early hours of Dec. 11.

After the initial hearing earlier this month, Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey held a press conference where he said thousands of videos showed Carlson traveling to and from the crime scene on the morning of the fire.

Ramsey claims Carlson used a Molotov cocktail or gasoline to ignite the fire and said investigators found a lighter, hammer and gloves in his car.

Bidwell Mansion had both a fire alarm and security system installed. Officials say it is not currently clear why these systems failed. The security system was reported to have been functioning the afternoon before the fire.

The investigation was a collaboration between multiple agencies, local, state and federal. This included the Chico Police Department, the Chico State Police Department, the Butte County Sheriff’s Office, Cal Fire, several arson task forces and the FBI.

Erik began his role as NSPR's Butte County government reporter in September of 2023 as part of UC Berkeley's California Local News Fellowship. He received his bachelor's degree in Journalism from Cal State LA earlier that year.