An unlicensed live-in caretaker and a neighbor have been indicted on charges including murder after an elderly Beaverton woman was fatally set on fire two days before Christmas.

A Washington County grand jury last week indicted Celia Schwab and neighbor Maria Meisner. Meisner, 55, is accused of aggravated murder, and Schwab, 63, faces first-degree criminal mistreatment for the death of 74-year-old Kathryn Breen. They both also face murder, first-degree arson and first-degree assault charges.

The women have since pleaded not guilty.

Schwab was arrested on the same day of the Dec. 23, 2016, apartment fire in the 5400 block of Southwest Alger Avenue, court records show. Meisner was arrested days later.

Meisner, who lived across the street from Breen and Schwab and told investigators she visited them nearly every day, has a 2012 arson conviction in Multnomah County, according to court records. She was sentenced then to a week in jail and five years of probation.

Breen was treated for second- and third-degree burns on a quarter of her body at Legacy Emanuel Hospital but died Jan. 24, court records show. Her will said she wasn't married and had no children, and it lists her only relative as a cousin who also lives in Washington County.

Investigators found a match in Breen's bedroom, according to a search warrant affidavit.

Schwab told Beaverton detectives that she lived with Breen since June 2012, slept on a bed in the living room and didn't pay rent, the affidavit said. She claimed she met Breen five years earlier and took on the role because Breen kept falling and breaking bones.

Schwab admitted she didn't have a license to provide care, the affidavit said.

On the day of the fire, Schwab said Meisner came to the house about noon and Breen was sleeping in her room, the affidavit said.

Schwab said she and Meisner spoke in the kitchen for a while and were distracted when a dining-room hutch fell over. Schwab said she looked for her purse soon after but couldn't find it.

She told investigators she believed demons knocked over the cabinet and stole her purse, the affidavit said. Schwab said she began canceling her credit cards and suspected demons also placed CDs in the clothes dryer, which was in Breen's bedroom.

Schwab said she told Meisner to throw all the matches from the apartment into a garbage can "in case the demons wanted to cause problems," the affidavit said.

Schwab said she noticed Breen's bedroom door was shut even though she typically kept it open and couldn't explain why it was closed, the court papers said. She said she started hearing noises coming from the room, opened the door and saw Breen on fire in the bed.

Schwab denied starting the fire and blamed it on demons, the affidavit said.

Meisner told investigators she saw Schwab take matches from the hutch and go into Breen's room before the fire, the affidavit said. The neighbor claimed Schwab told her it was "none of her business" why she was going into the room.

According to Meisner, Schwab then closed the door, stayed in the room for several minutes and closed the door again when she left.

When Breen was on fire, Meisner claimed Schwab said she couldn't help extinguish the flames because she had a bad back. When Meisner tried to call 911 on Schwab's cell phone, Schwab wouldn't give up her passcode to unlock the device, the affidavit said.

Meisner said she filled a container with water and doused Breen and her bed while they were on fire. Neighbors called 911. Meisner claimed Schwab later told her to blame the fire on demons, the affidavit said.

Meisner told investigators that Schwab had been upset about Breen keeping her awake at night asking for help turning over in bed and other reasons, the affidavit said. She claimed Schwab had told her the day before the fire that she wished Breen was dead and that she was "so sick of her," according to the affidavit.

Schwab claimed she actually told Meisner that she "looks forward to the day Breen passes away because she would love a vacation and be free," the affidavit said.

Schwab claimed she didn't know anything about matches in Breen's room, but later claimed Meisner had gone inside, lit a match and waved it back and forth in the air to put it out.

Meisner claimed during the immediate investigation that she lit the match in the bathroom and then put the extinguished match on Breen's bed. Police shortly after contacted Meisner again, and she admitted she wasn't honest with investigators about why she lit the match, but it isn't clear from the affidavit if she admitted to setting Breen on fire.

-- Everton Bailey Jr.

ebailey@oregonian.com

503-221-8343; @EvertonBailey