The fire killed Clarence “Buddy” Downs and was determined to have been caused by careless smoking. However, his widow, Cynthia McKay, was sentenced this month to 30 years in prison for the February 2006 murder of Anthony Fertitta in Anne Arundel County.

McKay has not been charged in the 2002 fire, and police say Downs’ death has not been ruled a homicide. In court filings, McKay’s attorneys say suggestion that she was involved in Downs’ death are “baseless.”

One of McKay’s sons, Matthew Haarhoff, says he has told investigators that his mother told him she stabbed Downs and set the house on fire.