Dilworth Man Who Blew Up His Home Ruled Unfit for Trial, Judge Orders Treatment

The Dilworth man accused of intentionally blowing up his own home last year has been ruled incapable of standing trial, with a Mecklenburg County judge ordering him into mental health treatment instead of moving forward with prosecution. Judge Donald R. Cureton signed the order on August 24 finding Michael Edward Barnette, 42, unfit to face the felony arson and explosives charges connected to the May 2, 2025 blast that tore through his home at 1645 Lombardy Circle.

According to the Charlotte Observer, Barnette is accused of pouring gasoline inside the home before it caught fire and exploded, damaging two neighboring homes and injuring a neighbor. No one was killed in the blast. Cureton's order sends Barnette into North Carolina's RISE program — the Restoring Individuals Safely and Effectively initiative — which is conducted at detention centers including the Mecklenburg County jail. If his competency cannot be restored there, he will be transferred to Broughton Hospital in Morganton; if it is restored through NC RISE, that hospital stay will not be necessary.

A Jail-Based Program With a Track Record

NC RISE was North Carolina's first detention-based competency restoration pilot, launched in December 2022 at the Mecklenburg County Detention Center, according to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. It was created specifically to treat defendants deemed incapable of proceeding to trial without relying solely on scarce state hospital beds. State data from April 2025 shows the program reduced Mecklenburg County referrals to Broughton Hospital by 60% and successfully restored trial competency in 82% of participating defendants, and it expanded to Wake County earlier this year after its initial success locally.

Barnette has a capacity review hearing scheduled for December, according to the Observer, when the court will revisit whether treatment has restored his ability to stand trial. Until then, the criminal case remains paused.

What Happened on Lombardy Circle

The explosion and fire on May 2, 2025 required a response from more than 60 Charlotte firefighters to bring under control, according to WCNC. The Charlotte Fire Department estimated the blast and fire caused roughly $445,000 in property damage, per WSOC-TV, and investigators quickly determined the fire had been intentionally set. A neighbor reported smelling gasoline just before the home exploded.

Neighbor Lawson Caldwell told WSOC-TV that the force of the blast knocked his adjacent 98-year-old house off its foundation and pulled window frames from their casings. Caldwell, who had known Barnette for years and had previously attended holiday gatherings with him, described the destructive power of the explosion on a home that had stood on the block for nearly a century.

Neighbors Describe a Man Who Had Grown Reclusive

Mecklenburg County property records show Barnette had owned the Lombardy Circle home since 2012. Neighbors told WSOC-TV he had become increasingly reclusive in recent years and was having difficulty selling the house, which had been listed for sale before the explosion. Neighbors also described odd behavior in the lead-up to the blast: Barnette reportedly left his lights on at all times, hammered on things at odd hours, and purchased an unusual number of trash bins.

A Charlotte-Mecklenburg police affidavit alleges Barnette wanted the fire and explosion to look like an accident. Barnette became uncooperative when contacted, according to the affidavit cited by the Observer, and fled the state shortly after the explosion. Law enforcement tracked his phone to Raleigh before he ultimately made his way to Chicago.

Flight, Arrest and Extradition

Barnette was arrested roughly one week after the explosion at Union Station in Chicago, where Amtrak personnel detained him. According to the arrest report cited by the Observer, Barnette had requested to call the Pentagon switchboard and was found carrying personal items, a cell phone, and $500 in cash in his backpack. He was extradited back to Charlotte and, upon his return, a judge denied him bond during his first court appearance in June, designating him a flight risk, according to WCNC.

A Mecklenburg County grand jury indicted Barnette in June 2025 on multiple felony counts, including malicious use of an explosive device to cause damage, first-degree arson, second-degree arson, and first-degree arson resulting in injury to a fire investigator. That last count stems from Charlotte Fire Department investigator Jason Boggs, who was injured after stepping on a nail while examining debris at the blast site, according to WSOC-TV.

Statutory Penalties and Lingering Neighborhood Concerns

Under North Carolina law, a first-degree arson conviction carries a mandatory state prison sentence of three to 13 years, WSOC-TV reports, since the charge applies to burning occupied dwellings or adjacent inhabited properties. Those penalties remain on hold while Barnette's competency case proceeds.

In the weeks after the explosion, the City of Charlotte inspected the Lombardy Circle lot after neighbors raised safety concerns over hazardous debris left uncleared while Barnette was in out-of-state custody, according to WCNC. Cleanup of the property was complicated by his arrest and extradition, leaving the future of the damaged homes and the broader question of when — or whether — prosecution will resume unresolved until Barnette's capacity review in December.