By Associated Press - Monday, June 11, 2018

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Trial has begun for a man accused of having killed his estranged wife in a fire in western Pennsylvania.

Fifty-year-old James Karr is standing trial without a jury on charges including homicide and arson in the December 2014 death of 56-year-old Maureen Karr.

Authorities in Allegheny County allege that he knocked her unconscious, tied her up, poured vodka on her and set fire to the Duquesne home.

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Days earlier, the victim had sought a protection-from-abuse order alleging that he had threatened to burn down her home. Police said he alluded to drastic action online.

At a preliminary hearing in 2015, a fire marshal said the victim’s hands were bound with wire in the living room of her home.

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