Apple Valley Woman Convicted of Arson, Assault For Setting House on Fire With Husband Inside

The Apple Valley woman who in December while he was inside pleaded guilty to and was convicted of arson, assault and fleeing a peace officer on Tuesday in Dakota County Court.

Rhonda Lee Arkley, 50, on Tuesday was convicted of first-degree arson, second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon and fleeing a peace officer in the case, in which she also attempted to stab herself with a screwdriver and fled police in her car, according to the criminal complaint.

Arkley originally pleaded not guilty to all three charges in May.

Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 10, 2012. The maximum penalty for the charges combined is 30 years in prison and a $39,000 fine.

On Dec. 2, 2010, police went to Arkley's home on a call from her husband that she had attempted suicide.

After the incident, he told police that he had been lying down when Arkley threw gasoline on him and threw an oil lamp at him, which didn't ignite the gas, the complaint says.

She then pushed him and hit him on the head with a weight, and yelled that she didn't feel like living anymore and he didn't deserve to live, either.

Arkley's husband found the house's phones disconnected when he tried to call 911, and she blocked the exit to outside, got a knife and said she was going to kill herself.

She then poured gasoline around her home to burn it down and lit a piece of paper to ignite it; her husband called 911 from a neighbor's house.

Officers who responded saw the house on fire, and reported Arkley was in a car outside, stabbing herself in the chest with a screwdriver, according to the complaint.

She then drove away from police, the complaint says, who followed her into Eagan where she drove over road spikes police officers had laid down and ran into a median.

Arkley's face and hands were bloody, officers said, and an ambulance took her to the hospital.