NORMAN — Although legislation has reduced the number of illegal methamphetamine labs around the state, the danger of fire and explosion remains. A case reported on by the Tulsa World reminds us of the risks meth cooks take.
Two Tulsa men were cooking methamphetamine in their apartment when a fire badly burned one of them who, died four months later. A jury this past week convicted the survivor of second-degree murder.
Charles D. Ladd, 30, faces a 30-year prison term in the death of Bryan Dale Moss, who died in the October 2009 fire. Mr. Ladd’s attorney, Marny Hill, told jurors that the fire was an accident and that her client did not intend to injure anyone.
Accident or not, the two men did intend to manufacture methamphetamine and the dangers are well known. If police officers, firefighters and property owners know the risk of cleaning up after an illegal meth lab, then the lab operators do, too.
