A 34-year-old Mandaree man is charged with murder and arson after a house fire that killed a woman.
Donavan ‘DJ’ White Owl is charged in federal court.
Court documents say the home outside Mandaree, on the Fort Berthold Reservation, went up in flames in the early morning hours of April 4th.
When authorities arrived on scene one witness was found in a vehicle with burns to his feet, and smoke inhalation.
He said he had woken up in the basement of the home, and later escaped through a basement window.
The man said there was someone missing and still in the home, he was not able to find her to help her out of the basement during the fire.
The victim’s body was later found in the basement of the home, an autopsy said she died of smoke inhalation.
The suspect, DJ White Owl, was one of several people living inside the home, however, he was not found after the fire.
Four days later law enforcement interviewed White Owl, where he made statements about drinking a liter of Crown Royal before the fire.
In an interview, White Owl said ‘yeah’ when asked if he burned the home but later pulled back that statement.
The investigation into the fire ruled out an electrical or propane heater having started the fire.
