Lawmaker, husband cleared in death

LACONIA (AP) – Jurors have cleared a state representative and her husband in a wrongful death case.

Rep. Francine Wendelboe of New Hampton and her husband, Matthew, owned an apartment that caught fire in 2001.

Patrick Price, its resident, died in the blaze. He was 40 years old at the time.

His mother, Angela, filed the lawsuit against the Wendelboes in Laconia. She said the couple’s negligence killed her son because the apartment had a defective heating unit and no smoke detectors.