Man kills himself in court after being sentenced to prison

United States, June 29, 2012

The jury in a court watched in horror how a man who had just been found guilty of setting fire to his mansion for $ 3.5 million, collapsed and died before them.

Michael Marin, 53, was found guilty of arson by a jury in Maricopa County Superior Court. The man looked surprised and closed his eyes as the verdict was read, when he would put something in his mouth and swallow with water.

Then he fell to the ground a few minutes later with seizures. Marin was taken to a hospital in Phoenix, Arizona, where he was pronounced dead.

When the Marin trial began in May, prosecutors said he could be sentenced to 16 years in prison if found guilty.

Marin burned his mansion in Phoenix on July 5, 2009 after not being sold it at a charity auction.

Now, toxicology tests are carried out in the body of 53-year-old man, as well as a bottle of water he drank.