Shotsie Buck-Hayes sentenced to 40 years for Danville arson attack
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A man who admitted to setting a Virginia city councilman on fire over an alleged affair was sentenced to 40 years in prison Thursday.
Shotsie Buck-Hayes pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree murder and aggravated intentional battery for his attack on Danville City Councilman Lee Vogler in April.
Witnesses told the court that on July 30, 2025, Buck-Hayes broke into Vogler’s Danville office and doused her with gasoline, then chased her from the building and set it on fire. Cardinal News.
Commonwealth’s Attorney Michael Newman told reporters that Buck-Hayes spoke at the sentencing hearing and offered “what he claimed was an apology” while claiming it stemmed from an alleged affair between Vogler and Buck-Hayes’ wife, Mary Alice.
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Shotsie Buck-Hayes sits next to defense attorney Edward Lavado in the General District Courtroom during a preliminary hearing on September 30, 2025 in Danville, Virginia. (Associated Press)
Mary Alice filed for divorce in mid-July 2025, about two weeks before the attack, according to court records cited by Cardinal News.
During the grand jury phase of the case in September 2025, Sgt. Gerrit Clay of the Danville Police Department testified that Buck-Hayes planned to kill the married father of two because of this alleged affair; this accusation has never been proven.
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The council member’s wife, Blair Vogler, testified that the attack left her husband with second- and third-degree burns on 60% of his body.
Following the attack, Vogler was immediately flown to the burn unit at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and spent months recovering.
Danville City Councilman Lee Vogler attends a city council meeting on Oct. 21, 2025, the day he was released from the hospital after being set on fire months earlier (City of Danville)
“They had to remove an additional 35% of his skin to fix those burns, so there was a period where 95% was on,” Blair Vogler said, according to Cardinal News. he said. “That led to infections, he had burn shock, septic shock… smoke inhalation injury and burns to his lungs, so he got pneumonia.”
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Circuit Judge James Reynolds sentenced Buck-Hayes to life in prison. He sentenced him to 10 years in prison for attempted murder and life imprisonment for aggravated intentional wounding, but suspended part of both sentences and gave him a 40-year prison sentence.
Buck-Hayes’ lawyers said they plan to appeal his sentence. They also said he was not a US citizen and would likely return to his home country, the UK, in the future. ABC11.
Following the attack, doctors believed Vogler would need to remain hospitalized for six months. According to him GoFundMeHe was discharged from the hospital on October 21, 2025, about three months earlier than expected.
This undated photo provided by the City of Danville shows Danville City councilman Lee Vogler, who was set on fire in his office in Danville, Virginia, on July 30, 2025. (City of Danville)
That same day, Vogler attended his first city council meeting since the attack and was warmly welcomed by his colleagues.
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“Recovery remains a long road (months to years) and will include orthopedic surgeries for a condition called heterotopic ossification, as well as future cosmetic and laser procedures to improve functionality, range of motion, and daily independence,” Blair Vogler wrote in a December 2025 update to GoFundMe. “One of Lee’s biggest challenges now is regaining the use of his left hand due to nerve damage.”
Vogler was elected to the city council in 2012 at the age of 24, making him the youngest person ever to hold the position.
