The millionaire owner of a historic Minnesota resort has been arrested for allegedly setting his property on fire to cash in on a massive insurance payout.
Bryce Campbell, 41, who bought the iconic Lutsen Resort Lodge in 2018, was taken into custody Wednesday in Michigan on three felony counts of arson and one count of insurance fraud. Authorities say Campbell, a Canadian resident living on Two Harbors, had joked in the past about torching the lakeside lodge—but now investigators believe those jokes were more than just talk.
“This selfish act put personal gain above the lives and livelihoods of his employees,” said Drew Evans, Superintendent of the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. “He also destroyed a treasured state landmark along the North Shore of Lake Superior.”
The lodge, Minnesota’s oldest resort, has been operating for 140 years, though the building that burned in February 2024 was constructed in 1952 after two previous fires had destroyed earlier structures.
Investigators allege Campbell had raised the resort’s insurance policy to $13 million, up about $4.5 million since 2022, while carrying $14 million in debt across multiple ventures. Emails recovered by authorities suggested there was not even enough money for payroll in the weeks leading up to the fire.
Social media users were quick to suspect Campbell after the blaze, though he initially denied any wrongdoing. “My heart is broken, and I feel like I’m grieving a person,” he told the Minnesota Star Tribune at the time. “You don’t torch a place and burn up $5 million of your money.”
But investigators say evidence tells a different story. Surveillance footage reportedly shows Campbell’s SUV near the lodge before and after the fire. Texts recovered from his phone allegedly include messages to his husband instructing him to “just burn it” regarding owed taxes and guest complaints.
Authorities also found residues of flammable substances, including glycol, on a water heater and gas valve in the lodge’s basement. Campbell reportedly filed an insurance claim for $16.5 million, claiming the fire was of unknown origin.
Only one staff member, manager Edward Vanegas, was working the night of the fire. He reportedly spotted smoke coming from outlets in the lobby before flames engulfed the resort, destroying the beloved lakeside getaway.
Probably a friend if Carney.How hard it is for a rich man to enter into heaven