A man is charged after investigators say he intentionally set fire to an apartment in North St. Paul.
The fire killed two pets and forced residents in the multi-unit building to evacuate as crews worked to contain the flames.
Randy Mark Couillard, 58, of Stillwater, faces one count of first-degree arson where another person could have been present. Court records show Couillard made an initial court appearance Tuesday morning, where a judge set bail at $100,000.
According to the criminal complaint, the fire was reported around 5:46 a.m. Jan. 5 at a multi-unit apartment building in the 2100 block of Burke Avenue. Officers and firefighters arriving at the scene saw smoke coming from the apartment belonging to Couillard’s domestic partner, who had just returned home and reported seeing him through a window before leaving to call police.
The woman later told investigators she allowed Couillard to stay at the apartment beginning Dec. 19, 2025, while encouraging him to turn himself in on an outstanding warrant in a separate threats of violence case.
Firefighters forced entry and extinguished the blaze, later determining the fire had been intentionally started inside a closet near the apartment entrance. Investigators found that the woman’s two cats died in the fire.
A neighbor told police he saw Couillard hanging out of a window and helped him climb outside, giving him a shirt and shoes before he ran from the area. Officers later found a torn window screen along with Couillard’s jeans and wallet inside the bedroom connected to that window.
Investigators also located altered cards on the bed addressed to the woman containing derogatory language, along with a kitchen knife and ammunition. A bullet wrapped in electrical tape and attached to a metal wire was also recovered from the room, according to the complaint.
Washington County deputies arrested Couillard later that day. During a police interview, he denied starting the fire and claimed the woman set it to frame him because she knew he had a prior arson conviction. Investigators noted he had a burn on his arm, which he said occurred while climbing out the window. Arson investigators later concluded the bedroom window was too far from the main fire to cause a contact burn. The neighbor who assisted him also told police Couillard never complained about being burned at the time.
The arson charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $35,000 fine. Court records show Couillard is also charged in a separate case with felony threats of violence after allegedly leaving the woman a voicemail threatening to kill her on Nov. 19, 2025. He faces up to five years in prison if convicted in that case, which is scheduled for a jury trial beginning March 9.
Court records show Couillard previously was convicted of second-degree arson in South Dakota in 2003 and trafficking narcotics in Oklahoma in 2000.
