20 years in prison for Va. man who set fire to stalking victim’s family home
A Virginia man will serve two decades in prison after he set fire to two vehicles and a home that belonged to a woman he was previously convicted of stalking.
A Virginia man will serve two decades in prison after he set fire to two vehicles and a home that belonged to a woman he had previously been convicted of stalking.
Julian Darius Karapetkov was sentenced Monday in Loudoun County Circuit Court after entering a guilty plea to two charges related to the 2022 house fire in Sterling last March, according to a news release from Loudoun County Fire and Rescue.
Karapetkov was sentenced to life in prison with all but 10 years suspended for burning an occupied dwelling. He was also sentenced to an additional 10 years for burning personal property valued at more than $1,000, according to the news release.
Officials said if Karapetkov contacts the victim again, he will be ordered to serve out the balance of the life sentence.
A 19-year-old George Mason University student at the time of the crime, Karapetkov had previously been found guilty of stalking the daughter of the fire victims earlier that same year, according to WUSA9.
No one was hurt in the fire, but damages to the home and vehicles added up to $200,000.
Firefighters responded to a house fire on Whittingham Circle in Sterling around 4 a.m. on Sept. 4, 2022. The flames were quickly extinguished and the fire marshal’s office said it appeared an accelerant was used to intentionally set the vehicles and house on fire.
Two people inside the home heard sounds of explosions and escaped without being hurt.
Karapetkov was initially charged with two counts of attempted murder by arson and stalking, but those charges did not advance as the case moved forward, according to court records.
WTOP’s Christopher Thomas contributed to this story.