EL CAJON, Calif. -- A North County businessman who owned a rental home that blew up early on Halloween, killing one of his employees, pleaded not guilty Monday to second-degree murder and other felonies.

James Anthony Kurtenbach, 47, also was charged with arson causing great bodily injury and arson for financial gain.

Seven weeks ago, a 4,000-square-foot house Kurtenbach owned and rented out several miles west of his business blew up and burned to the ground.

Firefighters found the severely burned body of Joseph Nesheiwat, 24, in the back yard of the gutted Mount Woodson Drive residence.

Kurtenbach, a Poway resident, told investigators the property was vacant at the time of the blaze and that nobody was supposed to be there.

Investigators concluded that the Oct. 31 fire had been intentionally set and that Nesheiwat died during the commission of the crime.

Kurtenbach surrendered at his place of business last Thursday.

Deputy District Attorney Fiona Khalil told Judge Lantz Lewis that the defendant had asked Nesheiwat at a prior time to burn his house down, but the victim refused. The prosecutors said that Nesheiwat owed money to Kurtenbach.

"He sent a trusted employee to set fire to his house without regard to the danger that was posed," Khalil said.

At 3:40 a.m., Kurtenbach was informed that the house was destroyed and a body was found at the scene, and 12 minutes later he sent a text message to Nesheiwat asking him to blow leaves off the gas station lot, the prosecutor said.

That was unusual because of the time of day, Khalil said.

Several minutes later, Kurtenbach sent another text to the victim that read: "R-U there?" the prosecutor said.

Defense lawyer Earll Pott told the judge there was no intention to kill Nesheiwat.

"At best, this is a terrible accident," Pott said. "At worst case, it's an arson that went terribly wrong."

Nesheiwat, a Ramona resident who had worked at Kurtenbach's Stars Petroleum gas station for seven years, suffered burns over 85 percent of his body and smoke inhalation, the prosecutor said.

County records show that Kurtenbach owed $16,600 in back taxes on his Ramona-area rental property at the time of the fire.

He also was charged with two counts of failure to withhold payroll taxes and a misdemeanor count of failure to acquire worker's compensation insurance.

Khalil alleged that Kurtenbach raised the insurance coverage on the house from $680,000 to $900,000.

Then, the day before the fire, the defendant switched agents, resulting in an additional $15,000 boost to his coverage, the prosecutor alleged.

Pott described his client as "a pillar of the business community in Ramona" and married to his second wife, who is expecting a child in February.

The defendant has three children from a prior marriage to a woman who owns half the gas station.

The judge set bail at $2 million and scheduled a bail review for Dec. 30.