Thursday, jurors heard critical testimony in the case of a man accused of setting a fire that killed his disabled wife six years ago.

The family of Shirley Beagell is suing their step-father Edward Beagell in a civil trial.

Shirley Beagell arrived at her Bonifay home on May 19th, 2002, after two years in a rehabilitation hospital.

She had learned to survive, after having a portion of one of her legs amputated.

Within a few hours of her homecoming, her house caught fire. Shirley Beagell never made it out.

Her husband, Edward Beagell, claims Shirley was cooking dinner when the fire started.

However, Shirley’s three daughters say he started the fire, hoping to kill his wife.

Thursday, Fire Investigator Harold Deese testified that the fire was suspicious. "The fuel load of a grease fire is not consistent with the type of fire we had," he said. "The acceleration of the fire was not constant; it would not have burnt that rapidly if it was a stove fire."

In addition to inconsistencies with the timing of the grease fire, one of Wednesday's star witnesses testified that he doesn't think the fire was started by someone cooking and that it was fueled by some external agent.

"My earlier theory would be there was some kind of liquid on that floor to accelerate the fire in going that way."

And, evidence collected at the fire scene revealed traces of an accelerant.

But, the defense says the inconsistent fire patterns could have been caused from debris that fell from the ceiling as the home burned.

Edward Beagell says he was at the store when the fire started and he has proof.

"What your telling me is that your proof [is that you] were up at the IGA; did you talk to him?”
“I did; I told him we were back and that I came up there to get something; I remembered I had some at home so I got to get back."

Shirely Beagell's daughters claim their step-father started another fire while their mom was in rehab a week earlier.

However, Beagell says Shirley’s blanket caught on fire when it came in contact with a candle that was accidentally knocked down.

The defense is expected to call their first witness on Friday.

The step-daughters are suing for an undisclosed amount of money.