Man used divorce papers to burn down wife’s business

A Lolo man accused of torching his estranged wife's beauty salon told Missoula County sheriff's detectives that he used his divorce papers to help start the fire. Shawn Robyn Gawronski, 33, was sitting in his truck, gun in hand, near the burning Gifted Hands salon in Frenchtown when sheriff's deputies arrived early on Monday morning, according to the affidavit filed by Missoula Deputy County Attorney Patricia Bower.

"The court finds you to be a threat to both the victim and the community," Missoula County Justice of the Peace Karen Orzech said on Tuesday, in setting Gawronski's bail at $200,000, double the amount Bower requested.



Gawronski told law enforcement officers that he'd also slashed the tyres on vehicles belonging to his mother- and sister-in-law and her boyfriend. And Bower pointed out that Gawronski allegedly violated a protection order.

"He was not supposed to go to the place of business and he certainly was not supposed to light it on fire," Bower said. Gawronski is charged with arson, a felony that carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and/or a $50,000 fine, as well as misdemeanor counts of criminal mischief and violating a protection order.