Nathan Wayne Galloway

While living in Prineville and working as a Crook County deputy district attorney, Ron Brown awoke early in the morning of Aug. 14, 2002, to smoke and flames filling the basement of his home.

Brown and his family — his wife and three young children — escaped the fire unharmed.

“My wife woke up to the sound of the smoke detector. As soon as I headed down the stairs, I couldn’t see smoke, but I could smell it,” Brown, who is now a Clatsop County deputy district attorney, said. “I opened the basement door, and it was full of smoke.”

Nathan Wayne Galloway, 19 at the time, set the fire. He was convicted in March 2003 of arson, first-degree burglary, reckless endangerment, attempted murder and attempted aggravated murder. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison.

However, last year Galloway’s conviction, minus the arson charges, was overturned by the Oregon Court of Appeals due to inadequate defense. The court ruled Galloway’s defense did not properly investigate the fire or secure evidence.

His case was retried in March, and he again was found guilty of attempted aggravated murder of Brown and first-degree burglary. At the same time, the jury found him not guilty of attempted murder and attempted aggravated murder of Brown’s wife and three children.

On Monday, Galloway, 31, of Prineville, was sentenced in Crook County Circuit Court to 246 months in prison, or just over 20 years. He gets credit for the time he has already served since 2003, so he is facing about another seven years in prison.

Brown, who attended the sentencing hearing Monday, said he was disappointed the jury did not find Galloway guilty of attempting to murder Brown’s wife and children, essentially reducing the sentence in half from 40 years to about 20 years.

Galloway claimed he didn’t know anyone else was in the house or who Brown’s family was, which Brown said, he has a hard time believing since the basement was filled with children’s toys.

“When you set a fire inside a house with the intention of killing every living thing, you can’t say you didn’t know all their names,” Brown said.

Galloway attempted the crime after Brown had prosecuted him for various misdemeanors.

Two other men were convicted after the fire for acting as lookouts for Galloway. Daniel Buker, 20 at the time, served nine years in prison. Timothy Walsh, 25 at the time, served 11 years in prison.

Prineville Police were the first to respond to the fire and assisted Brown with controlling the flames. Brown used a garden hose to douse the fire. The Prinville Fire Department then arrived to help clear the scene.

If the smoke detector had not gone off, Brown said, he and his family would likely have been killed from smoke inhalation and Galloway would have faced murder charges.

After his original conviction in March 2003, Galloway also received a five-year sentence for criminal conspiracy for creating a plan to murder a guard in Crook County Jail in April 2003.

Brown said spending more than a decade experiencing the other side of the criminal justice system has helped him better relate to victims. He can truly say he understands what victims are going through, as a victim of attempted murder.

“Victims feel helpless. I felt helpless,” Brown said. “This assists me in helping victims.”