Mother Held in Fire That Killed Children : Crime: Cancer specialist’s son, 13, daughter, 6, perished in blaze that destroyed home. She also faces attempted murder charges.

A doctor who escaped a fire that destroyed her family’s $400,000 home a month ago has been arrested and charged with arson and murder in the deaths of two of her children, who did not escape.

Dr. Debora Green was arrested Wednesday at a Kansas City theater where she had taken her surviving daughter, a ballerina, to practice for her starring role in “The Nutcracker.”

Green, 44, was charged with murder and aggravated arson in the fire Oct. 24 that killed her son, Tim Farrar, 13, and daughter Kelly Farrar, 6.

She also was charged with two counts of attempted murder. Dist. Atty. Paul Morrison said one of those charges stemmed from the fire and the second was related to a poisoning attempt. He would not elaborate.

Green’s estranged husband, Michael Farrar, had been hospitalized three times with an unexplained illness a few weeks before the fire. He is also a doctor.

Asked about a motive for the fire, which destroyed the six-bedroom Tudor-style home in the Kansas City suburb of Prairie Village, Morrison said: “It’s a domestic situation, and that’s where I’m going to leave it.” He would not say whether the fire was set with the intention of killing the children.

He said it is too early to speculate on whether he will seek the death penalty. Green was being held Thursday under $3-million bond.

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Green’s lawyer, former Dist. Atty. Dennis Moore, said his client professed her innocence and was grieving for her children.

She is an oncologist, or cancer specialist, who has stayed home to care for her children in recent years. Her husband is a cardiologist.

The parents were separated at the time of the fatal fire. Farrar filed for divorce the day after and sought custody of 10-year-old Kate, who had escaped by climbing to the garage roof and jumping to safety.

Kate has been rehearsing the role of Clara, the heroine of “The Nutcracker,” in the State Ballet of Missouri’s holiday production. Had she lived, Kelly was to have played an angel.

Investigators quickly ruled that the fire was arson. Flammable liquid was poured in several areas of the house.

The investigation included a closer look at an unexplained fire about 16 months earlier that heavily damaged the family’s previous home, as well as the mysterious illness of Farrar weeks before the deadly blaze.

Farrar had fallen ill after the family visited South America on a school-related trip, and friends said doctors speculated that he had acquired a strange type of typhoid.

Nettie Agnew, senior vice president for North Kansas City Hospital, said Farrar was a patient there Wednesday night. She said no details would be released, at Farrar’s request; the Kansas City Star said he had an infection believed to be related to his previous illness.

The illness remained a mystery. But police said new questions arose after they answered a domestic disturbance call at the house Sept. 25. The Star reported that poisonous seeds were found at the home, but police would not confirm that.

Green was described by police as “drunk, profane, bizarre but cooperative” when they went to the home Sept. 25. She was committed to a psychiatric unit for evaluation and later released.