A Peachtree City woman accused of killing her mother in law by setting her on fire more than a year ago will appear in court Dec. 17.

Valerie Lynn Dahlman, 41, of 402 Abrell Woods Court, is charged with murder and first degree arson relating to the death of Francis Dahlman, police have said.
Dahlman’s court appearance will be for a bond hearing to determine if she meets guidelines to await trail on bond instead of remaining in jail. Typically in such hearings the court considers the seriousness of the charges, the chance the defendant may flee the area and other factors to determine if a bond should be set.

The bond hearing will be presided over by Chief Superior Court Judge Paschall A. English Jr.
Francis Dahlman died from injuries she suffered when her recliner caught fire Aug. 31, 2008 in the basement of the home in the Crabapple Woods subdivision in north Peachtree City, police said.
Francis Dahlman was flown by helicopter to Grady Memorial Hospital where she died as a result of her injuries, police said. The autopsy determined that she burned to death, according to District Attorney Scott Ballard.

Ballard said he was unaware of what might have caused Valerie Dahlman to kill her mother-in-law.

Scott and Valerie Dahlman were listed as the owners of the residence on local tax records. Francis Dahlman was living in the basement of the home at the time of the incident, officials said.

Scott Dahlman was also at home at the time of the incident but at this point faces no criminal charges, officials said.
Although the incident happened 15 months ago, there was no one development in the case that triggered Valerie Dahlman’s arrest three weeks ago, Ballard said.

A number of forensic tests were conducted for the investigation, including some to test potential defense theories so they could be excluded before proceeding with the charges, Ballard said.

Days after the incident fire officials said that the fire had to be extinguished before the victim could be removed from the chair.

From the start of the investigation, the cause of the fire was “not obvious” according to city Fire Marshal John Dailey.
The murder-arson investigation has been a joint effort between Peachtree City police detectives, the Peachtree City Fire Department and the Georgia State Fire Marshal’s Office.

The last murder reported in Peachtree City was in October 2006 when Eric Ulrich was shot twice by his ex-wife April Ulrich in the parking lot of the NCR campus. April Ulrich pled guilty to the crime in November 2007.

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