Investigators say the woman escaped after a cat woke her as smoke filled her Greenville home.

APPLETON, Wis. — A 47-year-old Wisconsin man accused of setting fire to his estranged wife’s attached garage while she slept inside her Greenville home has been ordered to stand trial on attempted homicide, arson, stalking and related charges.

Nicholas Grundman is charged in Outagamie County after a March 19 fire at a home on Fawn Ridge Court. Prosecutors say the case began as a suspicious garage fire and grew into an attempted first-degree intentional homicide case after investigators reviewed the scene, interviewed Grundman’s wife and questioned him after his arrest. The woman was not injured, but police said her car and personal items belonging to her son were damaged.

The fire was reported just after midnight March 19, when the woman called 911 to report flames in the attached garage. She later told police she had been asleep when one of her cats started pawing at her face and woke her. “Within seconds, my house was full of smoke,” she told investigators. She said she was alone in the home and was able to escape with three cats and two dogs. After finding that the fire was in the garage, she used a fire extinguisher to put out the flames before the damage spread further into the home.

The early account gave investigators a narrow but urgent timeline. Firefighters and deputies were called to the Greenville residence, where officials said the fire was inside a garage connected to the living space. The home was occupied at the time, and the homeowner discovered the fire herself. The Village of Greenville Fire Department began the fire investigation, with help from the Outagamie County Sheriff’s Office and the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation. Officials said suspicious circumstances led them to believe the fire was not accidental. They did not immediately announce all of the evidence that moved the case from a fire response to a criminal investigation.

According to the criminal complaint, the woman told police the couple had been married for about a year and a half before the relationship broke down. She filed for divorce in February. She also told investigators that alcohol use and employment problems had caused tension in the marriage. In January, after she came home and found Grundman intoxicated and newly unemployed, she told him to leave the house. She said she later paid for him to stay first at a hotel and then at an Airbnb, but by mid-March she no longer knew where he was staying.

Police said the contact between Grundman and his wife intensified before the fire. The complaint says she reported text messages and phone calls that came almost every 30 minutes through the night. On the day of the fire, she called him and told him to stop contacting her. Investigators said he made a threatening statement before hanging up. When police later asked whether she was afraid of him, she answered, “Absolutely.” Authorities said that account became part of the stalking charge and helped investigators place the fire within a broader pattern that followed the couple’s separation and divorce filing.

Investigators said they found signs of accelerant at the scene, along with a bottle of lighter fluid. Grundman was arrested March 31 at a construction site where police said he was working. Authorities said he had a backpack containing a loaded Ruger Security-9 handgun. His wife told police the gun had been taken from the home when he left. During questioning, Grundman first denied being at the house in a direct way, saying he was not “technically” there but had been “being stupid.” He told investigators he often drove past the home to see whether his wife had someone over.

Police said Grundman described March 18 as one of his “driving around days” and said he had been drinking heavily after he “fell off the wagon.” According to the complaint, his voice began to shake as questioning continued. He acknowledged that he still had access to the garage, then admitted he entered it the night of the fire. Investigators said he later described using gasoline from a red container in the garage, placing some near a refrigerator and more near a workbench. The complaint says he told police he lit the gasoline with a lighter. He denied that he meant to kill his wife.

Prosecutors charged Grundman with attempted first-degree intentional homicide, two counts of arson, stalking, three counts of criminal damage to property and carrying a concealed weapon. A court set his bond at $1 million cash after the charges were filed. At a preliminary hearing in April, an officer testified and Grundman was ordered to stand trial. His arraignment was scheduled for May 5 in Outagamie County Circuit Court. The case remains at the pretrial stage, and the charges are allegations unless prosecutors prove them in court.

The address listed in court records was the same Fawn Ridge Court home tied to the divorce proceedings, according to local reports. The criminal case now links several records: the divorce filing, the fire response, the fire investigation, the arrest and the later court hearing. Officials have not publicly identified the woman by name, and no report reviewed for this story says she suffered physical injuries. The complaint centers on the danger created by fire in an attached garage while the only person inside the house was asleep.

For investigators, the garage was central to the case because it connected the outside fire scene with the living space where the woman slept. The woman’s account described smoke moving quickly through the house. The complaint also cited property damage, including harm to her vehicle and belongings connected to her son. Authorities have not released a full damage total. They also have not said whether additional forensic testing of accelerants will be presented later in court, though police told Grundman during questioning that further testing could show whether an accelerant had been used.

The case stands now with Grundman ordered to answer the charges in circuit court. The next listed milestone was his May 5 arraignment, where the case was expected to move into the next phase of prosecution.

Author note: Last updated April 28, 2026.