An Albany couple have pleaded guilty in Linn County Circuit Court in the death of their autistic son who died last year after being burned in an apartment fire.

Nicolaas Dirk DeGroot, 46, and Agnes Elizabeth DeGroot, 49, had each been indicted on the charge of murder.

However, they pleaded guilty “by way of Alford” Friday to the lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide. (Pleading guilty by way of Alford allows people to assert their innocence but agree that a judge or jury might find them guilty if the case went to trial.)

The couple was accused of starting a fire May 14, 2006, at their Albany apartment, where they lived with their son, Christopher Aire DeGroot, 19. Investigators said at the time that the parents left their son, who had severe autism, inside the apartment with the door and windows locked. Neighbors called firefighters and Christopher was taken to a Portland hospital, where he died five days later.

No sentencing date has been set. The DeGroots remain free on bail.

Democrat-Herald