A woman who cheated on her husband and burnt his house down in a botched insurance fraud attempt has been jailed for two and a half years.
Dannevirke fireman Joseph Gray stuck by his wife right up until it was revealed during her arson trial she had been
sleeping with one of his best mates, a fellow firefighter.
He has now filed for divorce, The Dominion Post reported.
Rachael Losanna Gray, 34, also ripped off the Dannevirke fire brigade - of which her husband was the treasurer - of $3000 to pay debts.
She was jailed on Friday for two and a half years for arson and a unrelated fraud charges.
After the theft from the fire department Mr Gray quit the brigade.
Then on November 6, 2006, their house was set ablaze and Gray was arrested for arson.
She denied it and her husband stood by her, though doubts had crept in.
"I guess deep down you don't want to believe your wife burned your house and could do that to you and your kids."
In May, Gray was found guilty of arson and pleaded guilty to two fraud charges, after she used forged documents to apply for a $1500 bank overdraft.
At her sentencing in Palmerston North District Court, the prosecution said lie upon lie steamrolled, culminating in the arson.
Her lawyer, Eric Forster, said the fire was a "rather pathetic cry for attention", but Judge Les Atkins said there were much less dramatic ways to get attention.
Outside court, Mr Gray said he did not hate her, but hated what she had done.
He was still unsure whether the arson was for the insurance, because of her affair ending, or to get sympathy from people to whom she owed money.
He said her sentence would keep her away from the children for a long time, "but personally if they had thrown away the key it wouldn't have worried me".
Dannevirke fire chief Mike Finucane said the brigade's money had been repaid and firefighters were happy the matter was over.
"It was a sorry state of affairs."
- NZPA
