WALLACE - Shoshone County District Court was packed Monday for the sentencing of the Kellogg man who torched the old Shoshone News-Press building in September and later returned to the scene to "admire his handiwork" before being arrested.

Douglas Burmeister, 22, was sentenced to 10 years in jail, with two years fixed and eight indeterminate. Burmeister was also ordered to pay $450,493.44 to Lexington Insurance Company, $493.44 to the city of Kellogg and $4,000 to Shoshone County Fire Protection District II.

"As to why you did this I think people could speculate about that forever," said Judge Fred Gibler before the pronouncement. "It makes absolutely no sense."

Gibler denied Shoshone County Prosecutor Val Siegel's call for a 15-year sentence with five years fixed and 10 indeterminate.

"Mr. Burmeister didn't commit this crime because he had consumed too much alcohol, he committed it because he wanted to," Siegel said. "(He committed the crime) because he hates the city of Kellogg pure and simple and that's what makes him a dangerous man."

Defense Attorney Erik P. Smith countered that his client was remorseful and the Doug Burmeister on the night in question was a different Doug Burmeister than the one who sat before the judge on Monday.

"You have someone who is an admitted arsonist, an alcoholic and a drug addict and he did all of this by the age of 21," Smith said. "He believes, and many people believe that he can come out of this to be not only just a functional member of society but one who will contribute and who will make people's lives better."

While the News-Press has moved to a new location in Osburn, one aspect of the crime cannot be repaired: more than a century of documented and catalogued Silver Valley history was destroyed in the blaze.

"I am speaking for a century of newspaper work that was destroyed by the choices made last September by Doug Burmeister," said Shoshone News Press Publisher Dan Drewry in a victim impact statement. "Yes, you chose to inflict half a million dollars in damages to the business I run (but) that damage pales in comparison to the damage you have done to the community."