Loudoun County man faces first-degree murder charge in fire that killed neighbor

A 78-year-old Loudoun County man accused of setting a deadly townhouse fire to try to cash in on insurance money has been indicted on a charge of first-degree murder.

Jacob Bogatin was arrested in October days after the fire that killed his neighbor, 36-year-old Madelaine Samantha Akers. A grand jury indicted Bogatin on first-degree murder on Monday.

Neighbors told News4 at the time that they could hear Akers’ cries for help as the fire engulfed her home on Riptide Square in Sterling.

“She’s asking for help, and there’s nothing we could do,” one resident said.

Investigators said Bogatin lived in the end unit townhome next to Akers. That home was also destroyed in the fire. A third townhome, on the other side of Akers’ home was damaged.

Fire investigators determined the flames started behind Akers’ unit, and they believe Bogatin intentionally started the fire.

Bogatin took out an insurance claim for more than double of what was owed on the recently foreclosed home the day after the fire, according to court documents.

Neighbors said Bogatin and his wife appeared to move out of their home in the weeks and days leading up to the fire.

The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office arrested Bogatin on Oct. 28 after reviewing doorbell camera video and tracking data from Bogatin’s car. He was charged with felony murder and burning or destroying an occupied dwelling.

Bogatin’s criminal case history shows a case involving federal indictments from 2003. The charges listed include RICO conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering and SEC fraud.

In that 2003 federal case out of Pennsylvania, the federal government alleged Bogatin conspired with a few others to set up a fraudulent business and then allegedly take that fraudulent business public to line their own pockets by defrauding investors out of tens of millions of dollars, according to court records. Those records did not specify the final result of that case.

A trial date has not been scheduled yet in Bogatin’s first-degree murder trial.

If convicted, he faces a minimum of 20 years in prison.