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Houston Ketter, age 41, of Albany, was sentenced to 50 years in prison in Albany County Court on Tuesday, Dec. 19, after a jury found him guilty of attempted murder.
According to the district attorney’s office, Ketter “acted in an especially cruel and wanton manner” when he set Kari Rouse on fire near Bradford and Robin streets in Albany on Nov. 13, 2022.
After dousing the 38-year-old in charcoal lighter fluid, he set her on fire, prosecutors said. An eyewitness testified that Ketter then turned around and laughed as Rouse screamed in pain.
She suffered second- and third-degree burns to 26-percent of her body but survived. She testified against Ketter, telling jurors that he was upset because she owed him money for drugs.
Months after the first attack, in January 2023, Ketter burned his girlfriend with a heated kitchen pot, causing second- and third-degree burns, prosecutors said.
On Monday, Oct. 23, an Albany County jury convicted Ketter of the following:
- First-degree attempted murder
- Second-degree attempted murder
- Two counts of first-degree assault
Speaking at Tuesday’s sentencing, Rouse credited an Albany Police officer with saving her life.
“What a feeling to be instantaneously on fire and screaming for someone, anyone, to solve it,” she said. “It was solved. Officer Newlove’s existence, timing, heart, is a blessing.”
Rouse said the attack left her with third-degree burns on 30 percent of her body. She also needs a permanent breathing tube.
“I cannot realistically tell you how many surgeries, blood transfusions, days and nights of horror I’ve overcome,” she said.
Assistant District Attorney Jessica Blain-Lewis said neither her office, nor any of the Albany Police officers involved could have been prepared for the “heinous” actions of Ketter.
“This man set a woman on fire and left her to die as he laughed. His depravity extends to a second woman, who he burned on the most sensitive parts of her body with a hot pot,” Blain-Lewis said.
“The maximum is the only appropriate outcome for both justice and public safety.”
In addition to his prison time, Ketter was sentenced to five years of parole, after which he would be 96 years old.
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