Fayette Arson, Murder Charges Dropped

The murder and arson cases against a Peachtree City couple were dropped. The Fayette County district attoey Tuesday said an evidence error forced him to stop the case.

The couple accused in the case said they never did anything wrong and that they loved and cared for their mother in the last months of her life.

Scott and Valerie Dahlman said the case was hurtful beyond words.

The couple said they moved their 71-year-old mother out of a nursing home and bought a new house in Peachtree City that could accommodate her after a stroke.

The Dahlmans said there was no way on earth, they would harm her.

"There are no words, no words, no words that describe it," said Scott Dahlman.

Scott Dahlman fought back tears as he thought about having to put out the fire that claimed his mother's life.

Dahlman and his wife Valerie said they never had time to grieve because they were both immediately under a cloud of suspicion for setting the fire in their own Peachtree City home.

Eighteen months after the fatal fire, the Dahlmans were both arrested for not only arson, but the murder of 71-year-old Francis Dahlman's murder.

Scott Dahlman said he was humiliated by police at gunpoint. "Utter disbelief that the arrest happened, that my children had to see an innocent man, their father, at gunpoint," Dahlman said.

"I did not, could not and would not do this to anyone. It's been unfathomable," said Valerie Dahlman.

The couple said their lives were tued upside down. They lost their careers, their kids were frightened and they suffered emotional pain.

Just this week, prosecutors threw the case against the Dahlmans out. Investigators said a white sheet with bu pattes on it that was found under Francis Dahlman's body was not entered into evidence and is no longer available.

Assistant District Attoey Warren Sellers concluded that there was insufficient evidence to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

"We never thought for a second there would be bad news because it never happened," said Scott Dahlman.

"I think the best thing we can do is take this period in our lives and put it as a separate event," said Francis Dahlman.

Fayette County District Attoey Scott Ballard said the case would have been a circumstantial case.

Ballard described the Dahlmans as being involved in a lot of suspicious activity, he said without evidence there was no proof.