Dye back in custody after violating release terms

OTTUMWA — One of the men charged earlier this year in a 2006 arson that killed two people is back in jail on $1 million bond after the court said he violated the terms of his pre-trial release.

Zachary Dye faces two counts of first degree murder. He and Christopher Yenger are accused of setting fire to a house in rural Wapello County, killing two people, following a dispute at a party the previous night.

Dye’s return to custody came after his probation officer filed a report alleging numerous violations including consumption of alcohol, failure to keep his monitoring device charged, and possession of prescription drugs that weren’t his. The report also accused Dye of meeting with people he was told he could not contact and said he failed to fully disclose his history of drug use.

The court revoked his release after receiving the report and issued a bench warrant for his arrest. He was taken into custody on May 2.

Dye was arrested in January after authorities said they received new information about the 2006 house fire that killed Nathan Messer and Seth Anderson. Investigators never reached a conclusion about the original fire.

Dye raised eyebrows a month after his arrest when he petitioned the court for permission to get married at the Wapello County Jail. That request was denied, and he was married after bonding out of jail.

The arrest does not guarantee Dye will be in custody until his trial, though the $1 million cash only bond is a considerably higher hurdle than his initial, half-million dollar amount.

In other area cases:

• Pre-trial maneuvering continues with filings in Ricky Keasling’s murder case. Keasling’s trial on charges of first degree murder and burglary is scheduled to begin next week.

• Trial for Frederick Grace, Jr., on charges of kidnapping and willful injury is scheduled for Aug. 9. It was set for later this month.

• Timothy Fortney’s trial on robbery charges is set for June 21. He has pleaded not guilty.