Burned Indiana Music Hall Trial Set to Begin

The trial is set to start this week for the former manager of a southern Indiana concert hall on charges he set the fire that destroyed it more than four years ago.

Authorities allege 77-year-old James Bowyer of Morgantown set the September 2009 fire at Brown County’s Little Nashville Opry in an attempt to claim $3 million in insurance money.

Bowyer’s trial on arson and other charges is scheduled to start with jury selection on Tuesday.

Brown County Prosecutor Jim Oliver tells The Herald-Times he intends to call 50 witnesses during the trial that could last two weeks.

Bowyer’s lawyer has said he had no reason to burn the business since he wasn’t listed on the insurance.

The 2,000-seat concert hall opened in 1975 just outside Nashville.