McDonald’s arsonist ‘guilty except for insanity’

Nicholas Patterson, 24, a Sisters High School graduate, will spend up to 20 years in the Oregon State Hospital after being found “guilty except for insanity” on July 13 in the arson fire that destroyed the Sisters McDonald’s during its construction in 2005.

Judge Michael Sullivan found Patterson to have been suffering from bipolar disorder that caused him to experience delusional episodes and fail to understand the consequences of his actions.

Patterson’s lawyer, Kent Howes, said his client would have never started the blaze if he had control over his actions.

“He does have a disease and he acknowledges that, and this is a tragic event he wishes would never have happened,” Howes said.

Patterson reportedly used gasoline cans tossed onto the building’s roof to start the blaze on July 10, 2005.

Fire investigators quickly determined that the blaze was an arson fire, Dave Wheeler, fire marshal for the Sisters-Camp Sherman Rural Fire Protection District, reported at the time.

According to Wheeler, a passerby saw “a yellow light” inside the building at 4:30 a.m. and called in the alarm. Crews were at the fire by 4:34 a.m.

“At that time, the interior of the building was totally involved with fire,” Wheeler said. “Shortly after crews arrived, the roof caved in.”

In 45 minutes, crews had the fire controlled. While the outer walls of the building showed little visible damage, the fire did weaken them. The fire did not spread from the building.

The restaurant and convenience store had been set to open within a couple of weeks and all the restaurant fixtures and kitchen equipment had been installed. Losses approached $900,000.

Investigators quickly zeroed in on Patterson as a suspect.

Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office detectives arrested Patterson, then 23 and living in Bend, on July 13, 2005.

Steve Rodgers and Darren Layne of Cache Mountain Development were forced to scrape the building down to the slab and rebuild from scratch. The fire also delayed the reopening of Sisters Chevron at that location.

The restaurant and Mainline Station convenience store opened on December 6, 2005.

Friends knew Patterson as a talented musician and as a sensitive and caring individual.

His sometime musical partner Shane Simonsen said only that Patterson’s situation “makes me really sad.”

Charlotte Milam of Black Butte Ranch, who knew Patterson through high school and church, said she had “shed a few tears” on learning that Patterson will be confined to psychiatric care.

“I’m grateful that he’s not going to prison,” she said. “I think this is the best thing. My heart goes out to this kid because he’s intelligent and a sweet young man.”

Patterson will stay at the state hospital in Salem until the Oregon Psychiatric Security Review Board considers him fit enough to be released or transferred to another facility.