Gasps erupted from the courtroom gallery Thursday evening as the clerk read the jury's "not guilty" verdict at the end of a four-day arson trial.
Daniel Doran was charged in October 2016, accused of burning down his late mother's home in a scheme to recover $462,000 in insurance payments.
Jurors deliberated for about two hours before unanimously finding Doran not guilty.
At his four-day trial this week, prosecutors presented a timeline in which Doran is tracked by hotel records and his cell phone. Doran rented a hotel room in Helena that evening and cell tower records indicated he was in Helena as late as 11:05 p.m.
Prosecutors said at trial that Doran's phone was turned off shortly after, but he turned the phone back on around 12:50 a.m. At that time, his cell phone was reportedly pinging off towers just outside Great Falls, and continued to hit towards en route back to Helena.