Summary Reinscheid set fires at University High School in Irvine, where his son hanged himself.
CALIFORNIA (AP) - A German-born professor who set a series of fires in the U.S. after his teenage son killed himself and whose private emails described a graphic plan to attack the boy s school is facing three to 18 years in prison.
Rainer Reinscheid, 49, was due to appear in a California court Tuesday after he pleaded guilty to six counts of arson, three counts of attempted arson and resisting or obstructing an officer.
Prosecutors are seeking the maximum sentence for Reinscheid, who set fires at University High School in Irvine, a school administrator s house and the park where his 14-year-old son hanged himself after being disciplined for allegedly stealing at the school store.
Emails were seized from Reinscheid s account addressed to himself and his wife outlining a plan to attack the school campus, commit sexual assaults and burn down the school before killing himself, though no charges were filed related to those emails, authorities said.
Defense attorney Joshua Glotzer said Reinscheid was not in his right mind after his son s death. Reinscheid had arranged for the boy to meet with a therapist the day he got into trouble at school and hours before he killed himself, Glotzer said.
Reinscheid is expected to address the court at the hearing.
