<p>A Superior Court jury watched a police videotape Wednesday in which a homeless man accused of setting a $17 million fire at the University of Georgia's Main Library first said he never left a computer station on the first floor, then claim he went to the second floor where he accidentally started the blaze.</p><p>Jason Nelms, 20, is on trial on arson charges stemming from the July 23, 2002 fire.</p><p>Investigators have testified that he became a suspect after witnesses reported seeing him only hours before the fire playing with fire in College Square, across the street from North Campus.</p><p>Nelms agreed to allow police to question him and was videotaped six days after the fire telling officers he and another homeless man went to the library at about 1 p.m. on July 23 to look for jobs on the Internet. He said he also visited chat rooms and played an online pool game.</p><p>When asked about setting fire to trash and pine straw in College Square, Nelms told police, "I was messing around killing time."</p><p>"Is this something you do commonly?" an officer asked.</p><p>"No," Nelms replied.</p><p>Nelms said he arrived at the library at about 1 p.m. and didn't leave the first floor until he evacuated the building with everyone else after a fire alarm shortly before 6 p.m.</p><p>At one point, UGA police Lt. Rod Platt bluffed Nelms into his first admission, claiming to have evidence that did not exist.</p><p>"I'm going to be a little more up-front with you. I know you were on another floor than the first floor that day," Platt said.</p><p>"Yeah, I did," Nelms admitted, explaining that he had heard that one of the bathrooms in the library had a shower, and since he had not showered in three days, he searched all seven floors of the library for one.</p><p>Using more deception, Platt told Nelms his fingerprints were found on the second floor and asked: "Did you light that fire?"</p><p>Nelms replied: "I am not an arsoner, I've never been in trouble with the law."</p><p>When the suspect told another interviewer, a Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent, "I'm not a bad person," the agent replied, "You don't have to be a bad person to set a fire. People make mistakes."</p><p>As the interview became more aggressive, Nelms said he accidentally started a fire with a match he dropped after lighting a cigarette. He said he tried to put it out but could not, then panicked and returned to the first floor and left the building with others.</p><p>Investigators have said the fire could not have started the way Nelms described.</p><p>He was indicted on two counts of first-degree arson, each count punishable by up to 20 years in prison.</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x1d0c018)</p>
