GRAPHIC CONTENT: North Dakota Man Facing Charges for Setting Mother on Fire

WATFORD CITY, ND (trfnews.i234.me) Thirty-five year old Scott Beane of Watford City, North Dakota has been charged with murdering his mother. Investigators say Beane’s mother, who was confined to an electric wheelchair or walker, died after he allegedly set fire to a room of their home with his mother locked inside.
a 35-year-old Scott Bean of rural Watford City North Dakota has now been charged in the bizarre horrific murder of his mother on September 12th of 2023 this happened about 3 miles south of Watford City North Dakota uh reading from the uh criminal complaint uh the victim in this is listed as Jane Doe but the McKenzie County Sheriff has identified the victim as Scott Bean’s mother uh again reading from the criminal complaint quote on September 12th 2023 at the residence of 12661 22nd Street Northwest in McKenzie North Dakota there was evidence of a fire and a death that deceased was identified as Scott Bean’s mother the caller Richard Scott Bean indicated that he had arrived at the residence and located his wife within the entryway of the resident deceased appearing to to have been burned to death Richard stated the residence itself was not on fire just the entryway was burned Richard indicated that he was unable to gain access into the residence itself as the door was locked Richard stated he believed his 35-year-old son was locked inside the residence members of the McKenzie County Sheriff’s Office arrived on scene at approximately 5:48 p.m. deputies has observed the deceased remains of uh Scott Bean’s mother whom appeared to have significant B Burns to the entirety of her body in what appeared to be an unclosed mudroom as well as evidence of a recent fire deputies forced entryway through a door within the enclosed mudroom which led them into the main living area of the residence deputies noted that upon forcing the door open they observed what appeared to be a dining style chair that had been barricading the door itself while inside the primary residence members of the mckin Mackenzie County Sheriff’s Office came to a closed and locked door within the hallway of the residents deputies could hear water running and a male making groaning noises on the other end of the door the male later later identified as Scott Richard Bean did not comply with ver verbal commands given by deputies deputies were ultimately able to gain compliance both verbally and physically of Scott uh leading Scott uh exiting the bathroom upon exiting the bathroom Scott hair was visibly wet Scott was detained and later charged with a firearm related offense a search warrant was obtained to process the scene for evidence members of the North Dakota State Fire Marshal’s Office BCI and Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms and McKenzie County Sheriff’s Office investigation division uh responded to the scene to Aid uh the affidavit uh gathered information from Richard regarding the phys physical condition of Scott Bean’s mother and the family dynamics of The Bean family it was discovered uh she the victim had Paralysis on the right side of her body limit creating limited Mobility given an injury uh she’d recently required the use of a walker which was reported to be within Arms Reach from her at all times to assist with Mobility it was discovered the victim spent the majority of her time in an electric handicap assistance chair in the enclosed mudroom while processing the scene it was apparent the majority of the fire damage occurred to the electric handicap assistance chair as well as the body of Jane Doe there was significant soot covering the four walls of the enclosed mudroom however the fire appeared to put itself out before continuing to spread uh ATF investigator uh confirmed the electrical components of the handicap assistance chair were intact and were not the C CA of the fire uh investigator indicated the scene itself uh suggested there to have been set fire uh the affidavit writer of this uh complaint conducted an interview with Scott on uh September 15th at the correctional facility Scott stated he stood in the doorway of the residence looking into the enclosed mudroom where he saw Jane Doe on fire crawling towards him as he stood in the door away Scott stated he heard Jane Doe screaming uh his mother Scott stated he closed the door and braced the door by wedging a dining room chair against the door knob as the interview of September 15th continued Scott said she is a smoker anyway who gives a the interviewer informed Scott of his mother dying in a horrific matter to which Scott replied quote yep during the search of the residence there was a working Wireless landline telephone within Arms Reach of the door Scott admitted to closing and ultimately barricading uh when ask why he didn’t call 911 Scott replied he didn’t think about calling 911 as mentioned previously the victim’s paralysis required her to use a walker to be uh mobile within the residence during the processing of the scene The Walker was located in an unnatural position out of the victim’s reach the Walker itself did not have have any soot or evidence of being in the room when the fire took place as a white cloth purse attached to the Walker itself was clean and unscathed patient transfer was located in the front of the walk or excuse me paint transfer was located on the front of the Walker matching paint disturbance located on the inside of the main enclosed uh mudroom door these findings suggest the Walker was removed from the enclosed mudroom prior to the fire taking place it also suggests that the Walker was propped up against the inside of the main entryway door in attempts to brace or barricade the door similar to what Scott admitted he did with the dining room chair through further investigation it was learned Scott may have recently been displeased with the victim and Richard his parents thinking they had been taking money from his bank account Richard explained to law enforcement that the night before September 12th Scott had been outside making fires in a cooking style pan with denatured alcohol after conducting a fire scene examination reviewing witness statements reviewing photographs and video as well as uh EV other evidence uh ATF agent agent uh classified the fire as incendiary excuse me incendiary ATF uses the definition uh to include uh uh willful ignition of a fire or of a a fire or explosion in an area or under circumstances where there should not be fire on November 3rd the uh writer of this report received the official report of death from the state forensic medical examiner office the cause of the victim’s death was determined to be from acute thermal inhalation injuries the manner of Janes do uh Jane Do’s death the victim was ruled a homicide uh the above provides probable cause that Scott Bean intentionally set a fire within the enclosed mudroom of the residents while the victim was present within this intentional act caused the death of Jane Doe who was ultimately confined to a space she could not Escape as she was on fire and lacked the ability to become mo mobile given her paralysis a paralysis Scott Bean knowingly took advantage of on September 12 2023 uh Scott Bean knowingly set fire within the enclosed mudroom of the residents while the victim was present within the ACT uh caused the death of the victim the above gives rise to probable cause to charge Scott Richard Bean with murder this is a class daa felony in the state of North Dakota again that’s directly from the criminal complaint uh class daa felony carries a uh maximum sentence of life in prison he remains in jail bonds set at $5 million I’m Neil Berg reporting for I trfnews.i234.me