Professor charged with setting fire to his wife

EVANSVILLE -- A Vanderburgh Circuit Court grand jury indicted a University of Southern Indiana professor on charges he tried to kill his wife by setting her on fire.\nThe indictment Thursday charged Ramadan Hemaida, 48, with attempted murder and aggravated battery. He was being held in Vanderburgh County Jail under $500,000 bond pending a court appearance Friday.\nHis wife, Fatima, suffered first- and second-degree burns on 40 percent of her body May 24 and was taken to an Indianapolis hospital in critical condition. She was later transferred to a nursing home in Indianapolis.\nThe couple, who are from Egypt, told police the woman's clothes caught fire when she tried to light a grill after spilling gasoline on her chest. But investigators found no gasoline inside the grill, according to a police report.\nInvestigators did find gasoline inside the house, police said, and neighbors reported seeing the woman aflame and running inside.\n"I believe he attempted to kill her by lighting her on fire, inside the house," said Evansville police Sgt. Stephanie Loehrlein.\nDefense attorney Jeff Lantz maintained his client was innocent. He said he believed Hemaida would be cleared once an interpreter could interview Fatima Hemaida, who does not speak English well.\n"I want someone who can speak Arabic to take her statement, not Evansville police officers who speak English," Lantz said.\nHemaida is an associate professor at the University of Southern Indiana's School of Business.\n"It's a very grave situation and we are deeply concerned," said Sherrianne Standley, a university spokeswoman. "None of us want to believe that a member of the university family would commit such a horrible act"