DANVILLE, Va. (Court TV) — A man faces a potential life sentence after pleading guilty to two charges for intentionally setting a Virginia councilman on fire.
Shotsie Buck Hayes appears in court on April 16, 2026. (Court TV)
Shotsie Michael Buck-Hayes, 30, pleaded guilty to attempted murder and aggravated malicious wounding in connection with the attack on Lee Vogler, 39. Buck-Hayes pleaded guilty without any sentencing agreement in place, but changed his plea as part of an agreement with the prosecution that saw them drop a charge of breaking and entering.
In a police interview played in court during the brief hearing, Buck-Hayes admitted to going to Vogler’s office with a bucket he’d filled with styrofoam melted into gasoline, “because I just thought that would make it burn longer.” When Vogler opened the door, Buck-Hayes poured the substance on him and then chased him around the building and into the street before setting him on fire. “He was probably terrified,” Buck-Hayes said in the police interview.
A witness inside the office described the scene, saying, “Lee is running through the office covered in gasoline, yelling for our officemate to call 911.”
Lee Vogler appears in court as Shotsie Buck-Hayes pleads guilty on April 16, 2026. (Court TV)
Prosecutors said that Buck-Hayes decided to attack the victim after a phone call with his estranged wife that morning. Buck-Hayes’ wife, from whom he had been separated for nearly a year, had been seeing Vogler. During that phone call, investigators say Buck-Hayes felt “rejected.” “I just lost my cool,” Buck-Hayes told officers. When he was further pressed, Buck-Hayes explained that he had always wanted to have children, and now he felt like he had lost the opportunity with his wife. “I knew I made mistakes,” the defendant said in the police interview. “But I really feel like he stopped my children from existing. So that’s what was in my head.”
During his arrest, Buck-Hayes told officers, “He had sex with my wife,” as police taking him into custody can be heard on body camera saying, “He still smells like gas.”
Vogler, who was attacked at his office at Showcase Magazine, was also serving on the Danville City Council at the time of the attack. He is also a father to two children.
Under Virginia law, Buck-Hayes faces a maximum of 10 years in prison for the attempted murder charge and a maximum of life in prison for aggravated malicious wounding. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 25.
