Misty Ann Weaver, the woman charged with three counts of felony murder and one case of arson in connection with the March 28 office building fire she confessed to setting, pleaded not guilty yesterday. Weaver, 33, told investigators in April that she set the fire in the office of her boss, plastic surgeon Dr. Robert Capriotti, to cover up the fact that she hadn't finished paperwork related to an accreditation audit for the doctor. After she left work for the day on March 28, Weaver said she went back into the North Loop East office building and used a lighter to set fire to a cardboard box in a supply closet; she then left when the flames reached four or five inches high. The fire, fueled by stiff winds, ended up destroying the midrise building's top two floors.

If Weaver is convicted, she faces sentences of up to life in prison for each case. Her attorney, Todd Dupont, said she's also eligible for probation because she has no prior criminal history. It's not clear what her defense will be, though we can't help but wonder whether Weaver's attorneys will bring in the building's life-safety systems — or lack thereof. (One of the victims' families has sued the building's owners and Weaver alleging that the building didn't have adequate fire suppression systems; we'll be interested to see how that comes out, too.) There are still some interesting questions in Weaver's case, including the details of the purported accreditation audit: Though Weaver said it was what drove her to set the fire, prosecutor John Jocher said in May that the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care, the group that would handle Capriotti's accreditation, hadn't been in touch with Capriotti's office since September 2005 and wasn't planning an audit at the time of the fire.

Weaver remains in home confinement and is wearing an ankle monitor.