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Property manager charged in connection with fatal Provo house fire passes away

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Posted at 10:19 PM, Jan 25, 2022
and last updated 2022-01-26 00:57:58-05

PROVO, Utah — A man who was charged in connection with a house fire that claimed the life of a woman over three years ago has died.

According to his obituary, Homer Dilts Workman passed away Jan. 10 "after a brief illness," which was not specified.

Workman, 72, was the property manager of a house in Provo that burned down in June 2018, killing 48-year-old Donna Clegg.

He and Kelly Ellis, who owned the house, were charged with manslaughter and reckless endangerment. Court documents say the city told Ellis and Workman several years earlier that the home could not be rented out until it was brought up to code. Despite that, Workman continued to collect rent payments from Clegg and pass the money on to Ellis.

Another property owned by Ellis had burned down two years prior to the June 2018 fire. It also did not have smoke detectors and was not insured.

Fire department officials said the house did not have working smoke alarms, and Workman reportedly shut off the electricity about a month before the fire without telling Clegg or her husband. They were using candles for light, which the fire department said at the time was a possible cause of the fire.

Officials said Clegg died from smoke inhalation after being unable to exit the building due to a blocked-off door and windows.

A judge granted the Utah County Attorney's Office's motion to dismiss Workman's case last week after learning and confirming that he was deceased. Ellis' case, however, remains open and is still in pre-trial stages.