Almost one year ago, an Alabama dentist was captured on surveillance video setting fire to his dental office in Evergreen, triggering an explosion that destroyed the building and slightly injured the dentist.
Last week, Dr. Douglas P. O’Connor was sentenced to 15 years in prison. He will likely serve three years behind bars, the Alabama attorney general said.
“Alabamians put their trust in doctors to do no harm. Dr. O’Connor shattered that trust in the most deliberate way possible. He set fire to his own practice, endang
ered the lives of those next door and attempted to defraud his insurance company to cover years of reckless spending,” Attorney General Steve Marshall said in a statement.
The explosion and the January 2026 arrest of O’Connor surprised many in the south-central Alabama community. Residents noted that the dental practice, in oper
ation for two decades, was very successful, O’Connor was considered a nice guy and was involved in the community.
But investigators with the state Fire Marshal’s office, the state Department of Insurance and local police spent 10 months probing the blast. Prosecutors
said the fire had been deliberately set and that the dentist was heavily in debt.
The dental practice was next door to an Alabama State Troopers’ office, which sustained some $63,000 in damage from the fire and explosion, the AG’s office noted. Surveillance video from nearby offices, which was not m
ade public until recently, showed O’Connor entering the building repeatedly late at night, then striking a match and throwing it inside, causing the explosion, Marshall explained.
Forensic testing later showed gasoline on O’Connor’s clothing, the AG explained. The dentist pl
eaded guilty Feb. 3. He was allowed to remain out on bond while considering an appeal, according to local news reports.
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Some of Taiwan’s largest life insurers, including Cathay Life Insurance Co. and Nan Shan Life Insurance Co., conducted internal reviews of their exposure
to the Middle East over the weekend after news of the attacks broke, according to people familiar with the matter. Barclays Plc redeployed more than 30 peop
le to work Sunday to cover New Zealand’s market open on Monday, which offered an early gauge of sentiment. Traders at Singapore-based Dymon Asia Capital were also awake to cover the Wellington open.
Global funds and banks still have little visibility on what comes next, after a series of missile strikes by the US and Israel over the weekend killed the coun
try’s Supreme Leader and hit defense sites. President Donald Trump called for Iranian citizens t
o rise up and take over the government, raising the possibility of a prolonged period of political turmoil.
Oil jumped more than 13% at Monday’s open before giving back some of its gains, while risk currencies such as the Australian dollar and the New Zealand
dollar slid. Haven assets such as the dollar and Treasuries rose in early trading but soon pared gains. Stocks in most Asian markets fell.
