A Canaan man charged with arson following a September fire faces new charges, the state fire marshal’s office said Tuesday.

Matthew Short, 30, has been charged with three counts of violating conditions of release after contacting Sheena Moshier from the Somerset County Jail in Madison, according to a news release from Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety.

Moshier has been charged with theft by deception and violating conditions of release.

Short was charged in March with arson, burglary and cruelty to animals in connection with a fire at a neighbor’s mobile home that killed four dogs and three cats at 289 Browns Corner Road. At his arraignment last month, he was told he could have no contact with Moshier, described as his girlfriend, but investigators discovered that he has made several calls and wrote letters to her from the jail, where he remains without bail, the release said.

Moshier was arrested last month on several charges unrelated to the fire, and faces the new charges after investigators found she was allegedly selling, for $1 a gallon, kerosene that she had gotten from public assistance, the release said.

Moshier, 30, was using her Facebook page to advertise the fuel, the release said. She was charged on April 5. She is out on bail.

Fire investigators were assisted by the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office and the Somerset County district attorney investigator.


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