ST. LOUIS, Mo. – A St. Louis man has been sentenced to prison and ordered to pay restitution after being convicted of blowing up his ex-wife’s vehicle.
Dean Allen McBaine, 31, was convicted by a jury in October 2019 for one count of possessing an unregistered destructive device. He was later sentenced to 60 months in prison and ordered to pay $34,705.21 in restitution.
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Trial testimony stated McBaine and his current wife got into a domestic dispute at a Jefferson City home in August 2018, during which a gun was fired into a bedroom where his then-13-year-old son was sleeping. The mother of the teenager, McBaine’s former wife, then moved the boy to a home in St. Louis’ The Hill neighborhood and orders of protection against McBaine were issued, according to court documents.
Three weeks later, on Sept. 2, 2018, an explosion destroyed McBaine’s ex-wife’s red Mini Cooper car during the early morning hours in the 5400 block of Bischoff Avenue. The explosion also damaged two adjacent homes.
A co-defendant in the case, Michael Bushman, previously pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 13 months in prison after reportedly admitting to making a “sparkler bomb” with McBaine and detonating it under the ex-wife’s car.
A neighbor’s surveillance camera captured the explosion.
McBaine was previously charged with arson in the first degree, endangering the welfare of a child, unlawful possession of an illegal weapon and property damage.