Jury selection begins in 2008 Hereford House fire

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Jury selection begins Monday against the owner of a famous Kansas City steak house who is accused of hiring at least two men to burn the place down for insurance money.

Rodney J. Anderson, of Kansas City, is accused of arson and fraud in the October, 2008 fire at Hereford House. Anderson is a co-owner of the holding company that owned the business and also the realty company that owned the building, located at 2 E. 20th Street.

Complete Coverage of the Hereford House fire and arson investigation: http://tinyurl.com/9ecuxb9

According to prosecutors, the 58-year-old conspired with Vincent Pisciotta, 56, and Mark A. Sorrentino, 45, both also of Kansas City, to set the fire and to fraudulently collect insurance money.

In the 2011 indictment charging Pisciotta and Sorrentino, prosecutors alleged Anderson met with Pisciotta on Sept. 27, 2008, about three weeks before the fire, and gave him a key to the building and the security alarm code.

Three men – Pisciotta, Sorrentino and a third man who has never been identified or apprehended - entered the building on Oct 19, 2008 and set it on fire.

Anderson requested and received an advance payment of $300,000 from his insurance company, according to the indictment. He claimed losses totaling almost $2.5 million between his two companies, according to prosecutors.