Suspect in Ogden fires found competent

OGDEN — A woman accused of setting a series of fires in a blighted neighborhood has been found mentally competent to face trial.

Court records said that during an appearance in 2nd District Court on Monday, an attorney for Marianne Mancuso stipulated that she was competent. A judge also agreed to lower bail to $15,000 if she agreed to consume no alcohol or drugs and enter mental health and substance abuse treatment.

Mancuso, 47, was also ordered to have no contact with anyone on the 1800 block of Kiesel Avenue, court records said. Mancuso lives on that street but has been in the Weber County Jail since her arrest in October.

Mancuso is charged with four counts of felony arson, accused of setting fires to abandoned homes in the area. Ogden police said Mancuso confessed to the arsons, saying she wanted to jump-start a multimillion-dollar redevelopment project planned for the neighborhood.

— Ben Winslow