Updated 6 p.m.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- William Calderwood never denied taking items from an abandoned property next to his home on West 83rd Street, but he always argued he never intended to destroy it for money.

On Friday, a Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court jury sided with him.

Calderwood, 57, of Cleveland, was found guilty of burglary of a home that exploded next to his own house, but the jury acquitted him of 53 counts of aggravated arson stemming from a Jan. 25 explosion that damaged 68 properties.

During the trial, jurors listened to more than 60 witnesses and saw 132 exhibits of evidence. They deliberated for about 2 1/2 days.

Two jurors, Steve McJunkins and Neal Benedict, said afterward that they did not believe the state presented enough evidence to convict Calderwood of aggravated arson.

"The state did not meet its burden of proof in this particular case to prove that Bill Calderwood was the only suspect and the only possibility in this case," Benedict said after the trial.

Calderwood wept after he heard the verdict. His attorney, Pat Leneghan, said his client is a very emotional man who has always maintained his innocence. He said the prosecution never had the evidence to prove his client caused the explosion.

"My client fully acknowledged taking the appliances," Leneghan said. "He believed that the property was vacant for 2 1/2 years and it was high time that somebody used it, and he gave those items to homeless people."

Leneghan also argued to the jury that multiple people had gone in and out of the abandoned house before the explosion.

Throughout the three-week trial, prosecutors said Calderwood as a man who had run into financial troubles with his home and several rental properties he and his wife owned and caused the home to explode so he could damage his residence and get insurance money as way to get out of debt.

Prosecutors also described Calderwood's previous history with arson. In 2004, he was convicted in Michigan in an arson-for-profit scheme.

His wife, Terry Calderwood, said she would was happy her husband wasn't convicted of the arson charges and she is ready for him to come home. She said most people in her former neighborhood have supported the family.

"God is in control, and he came through," said Terry Calderwood, who was accompanied by a member of her church. "If anything good comes out of this, they need to make sure they don't have gas free flowing into houses that are vacant. It shouldn't have happened."

Assistant County Prosecutor Robert Botnick said he was disappointed with the arson verdict but was pleased the jury found him guilty of being a scrapper.

"This was a circumstantial case," Botnick said. "We thought that there was enough evidence to prove that it was Bill Calderwood going through the house and his actions directly after leaving the house leading up to the explosion."

Calderwood is expected to be sentenced on Wednesday by Judge Bridget McCafferty on the burglary conviction. His lawyer said his client would appeal the burglar conviction.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: sdonalds@plaind.com, 216-999-4885