KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — A Knoxville man has been sentenced to serve 20 years in prison after he was convicted earlier this year of setting multiple fires inside his wife’s home in 2025.
On Friday, Knox County District Attorney General Charme Allen’s office announced that Roderick Jermaine McAlpin, 43, was sentenced to serve 20 years in the Tennessee Department of Correction for his convictions of arson, vandalism over $60,000 and aggravated criminal trespass.
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In June, a jury convicted McAlpin after prosecutors explained during the two-day trial that McAlpin crawled into his wife’s home through a bedroom window while she was away on July 7, 2025, despite being ordered to stay away from her following a previous domestic assault. The DA’s office said that once McAlpin was inside, he started four separate fires in three bedrooms of the home.
The Knoxville Fire Department responded and put out the fire. According to Allen’s office, arson investigators found significant structural damage to the home totaling approximately $137,000 in damages. Trained K-9s were used to identify the accelerants that were used to start the fires on three mattresses and inside a bedroom closet.
“Thanks to the expertise of our arson investigators, we were able to hold this offenderaccountable,” said Allen.
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The district attorney’s office said that in addition to a domestic assault conviction, McAlpin also has two prior drug dealing convictions…