A northern Indiana man who was seriously injured in a deadly house fire as a child is seeking insanity defense in a case in which he allegedly set fire to his own house. Twenty-Four year old Mark O’Banion Jr. is charged with two counts of arson for allegedly igniting a fire in his South Bend trailer home following a May confrontation with his wife. O’Banion’s public defender asked a St. Joseph County Judge Tuesday to appoint doctors to evaluate O’Banion and determine if he’s competent to stand trial. His attorney also filed a notice stating that he intends to use an insanity defense for O’Banion in the case. The South Bend Tribune reports that O’Banion and his brother were seriously injured in a 1996 house fire that killed two other siblings.
