Detective: Suspect said he set fire to cover up killing

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EUGENE, Ore. - The suspect accused of murdering a man and then setting a house on fire pleaded not guilty Monday.

But court documents indicate 41-year-old Robert Charles Baimbridge confessed to a sheriff's invesigator that he injuryed Moji Silas Tholl, 51, and then set a River Road rental home on fire in an attempt to cover up the incident.

Baimbridge faces charges of murder and arson. He entered a plea of not guilty Monday.

For law enforcement,

the investigation started with a house fire

just before 2 p.m. Oct. 9. Tholl was found dead inside.

"Evidence at the scene indicated that the death was suspicious along with the fire," Detective Stephen Simons wrote in the probable cause affidavit filed after Baimbridge's arrest. "There were injuries to Tholl that would not be caused by a fire and multiple locations in the residence where it appeared injuries were sustained."

Investigators learned Baimbridge had been at the house the night before the fire and left shortly before the fire was reported.

"After an interview was conducted, Baimbridge confessed to causing the injuries to Tholl and setting the fire in an attempt to cover up the incident," Simons wrote in the affidavit, filed Oct. 11.

Baimbridge was

placed under arrest

. Prosecutors and investigators have said little about what led up to the incident or a possible motive.

The two men knew one another, and

both had fathered children with the woman who rented the house

, Shawna Schmidt. She was arrested and barred from the residence after a domestic dispute there with Tholl Sept. 28.