Cottonwood man pleads guilty to arson, murder charges

A Cottonwood man has pleaded guilty to charges of arson and murder during a state of emergency in 2018.

### new at noon - a guilty plea from a shasta county man charged with arson and murder during a state of emergency.

Prosecutors say samuel scholfield will receive a sentence of 40 years to life in prison in exchange for his plea.

Scholfield admitted to setting fires that burned homes and structures in cottonwood and anderson between july and october of 2018... when shasta county was in a state of emergency due to the carr fire.

86 year old barcie miller of cottonwood was killed in one of the fires.

Scholfield will be formally sentenced in