STAMFORD, Conn. – A 57-year-old Norwalk woman, accused of killing her husband by dousing him with gasoline and setting him on fire, has pleaded not guilty to a charge of murder.
Mary Ann Langley made her plea Monday in Superior Court and remains free on $200,000 bond.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, Mary Ann Langley allegedly was trying to get back at James Langley, 55, for having affairs. Police also said she might have been seeking to cash in on his $278,000 life insurance policy.
Relatives who lived next door to the couple and who had come to James Langley's aid after the fire told them he saw his wife toss the gasoline and strike a match on Dec. 14.
Langley suffered second- and third-degree burns over 30 percent of his body and died 12 days later at Bridgeport Hospital.
John Lomba, a city fire inspector, testified a hearing last month that burn marks from the bedroom show someone "sprayed or splattered" gasoline over a small section of the room.
Lomba testified that James Langley was likely sitting on the bed or standing near it when the gas hit him. The bedroom and the home sustained minimal damage in the fire.
Langley is next scheduled to appear Aug. 23 in Superior Court.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox