A 21-year-old Brockton man was acquitted yesterday of charges that he killed his grandparents by helping to burn down their home in 2003.
After two days of deliberation, a Plymouth Superior Court found Kenneth S. Choy not guilty of two counts of murder. Choy, who had spent five years in the county jail waiting for trial, was released after the verdict.
"We are grateful and relieved that the jury worked so hard on this case and came up with the right verdict," said Choy's attorney, Robert J. Galibois II.
Choy was 16 years old when he and his 17-year-old aunt, Frances Y. Choy, were accused of setting the fire that killed his grandparents, Jimmy and Anne Trinh Choy, on April 17, 2003.
At first, Frances Choy was lauded for keeping a cool head when she used her cellphone to report the fire and calmly gave State Police information to dispatch firetrucks to the Belair Street home. Firefighters rescued the two teenagers as they were hanging out the second-floor windows of the house they shared with the victims.
Later, authorities said they found plastic bottles filled with gasoline at the charred house and detected gasoline on Frances Choy's clothing. When the Choys were arraigned five years ago, prosecutors alleged that Frances offered Kenneth money to help her plan the arson and that Kenneth had written detailed plans about setting the blaze. Kenneth told police that he had backed out of the plot, while Frances had pursued it.
Kenneth "indicated that . . . he didn't follow through with it," Galibois said in an interview this week. "She sent him to his room, and then he heard the whoosh sound of flames."
Frances Choy, now 22, remains in custody at the state prison in Framingham. She stood trial last month, but the jury could not reach a verdict on the charges of arson and first-degree murder. She will return to court to face trial for a second time April 8, according to her attorney, Joseph F. Krowski.
The Plymouth district attorney's office did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment last evening.
Emily Sweeney can be reached at esweeney@globe.com.
