Firebug admits to torching downtown store
Joshua Daniel Grant Burden, 49, of no fixed address, changes pleas to guilty on six charges
A homeless man accused of setting fire to an iconic, longtime business in Fredericton’s downtown core admitted Tuesday to that and other crimes.
Joshua Daniel Grant Burden, 49, of no fixed address, was charged with several offences in October and remanded after a bail hearing in November.
The volatile defendant - who has frequently gone on profanity-laden rants during earlier court appearances - had previously pleaded not guilty to causing damage by fire to MacTavish’s Source for Sports on Queen Street while being reckless as to whether anyone was inside and breaching a probation order, both on Oct. 29.
He’d also previously denied Oct. 12 counts of uttering threats to cause death and/or bodily harm to Nicolas De L’Eveille and breaching probation order, and Oct. 24 charges of uttering threats to cause death and/or bodily harm to Fredericton police Const. Ryan Preston and breaching probation.