Kansas man charged with murder in woman’s burning death

BAXTER SPRINGS, Kan. – A Kansas prosecutor has filed first-degree murder and other charges against a man suspected of fatally burning a woman and injuring two police officers during a confrontation.

Cherokee County Attorney Jake Conard’s office says 49-year-old Harvey Raymond Ortberg is accused of dousing 65-year-old Sharon Horn with gasoline and setting her on fire Sept. 30 at her Baxter Springs home. She later died at a Springfield, Missouri, hospital. Other charges include burglary, arson and the attempted murder of two responding officers, who also were burned.

Missouri and Kansas officials couldn’t immediately confirm whether Ortberg has an attorney. Once he’s released from the hospital and extradited to Kansas, he’ll be held on a $1 million bond.

He faces life in prison without the possibility of parole for at least 50 years.