Fire ruins historic courthouse, scene of suit over John Edwards sex tape

The historic courthouse in Pittsboro, N.C., where a lawsuit over a sex tape involving former U.S. Sen. John Edwards was being heard, was destroyed by fire Thursday evening.

Chatham County Superior Court Judge Abraham Penn Jones, who is overseeing the case, told the Associated Press that the evidence in the case, including the tape, is in a vault away from the courthouse.

“They were doing historic renovation on a landmark that is very important to this town and county,” Pittsboro Mayor Randolph Voller said. “The building may be a complete loss.”

No one was injured in the fire, which was reported at 4:15 p.m. and raged for several hours. The cause was under investigation.

On Jan. 28, Rielle Hunter, the mother of Edwards’ 2-year-old daughter, filed a suit accusing former Edwards aide Andrew Young and his wife of stealing a tape depicting “matters of a very private and personal nature” that was made while she was having “an intimate relationship” with Edwards.

Young revealed the existence of the tape in his new memoir about the scandal, “The Politician.”

In December 2007, Young claimed that he, not Edwards, was the father of Hunter’s child in order to protect Edwards, who was seeking the Democratic presidential nomination.

Hunter moved in with the Youngs for several months. They all left North Carolina for a mansion in Montecito, near Santa Barbara, which was paid for by Edwards’ former national finance chairman, Frederick Baron, who has since died.

Young contends that Hunter abandoned the tape and that he kept it for fear that someone in Edwards’ camp might want to harm him to prevent the ruse from being revealed.

In an interview Thursday, Young said that he had turned over two suitcases of documents, plus the tape, a copy of the tape and two computers to the judge’s clerk, on the courthouse’s third floor.

On March 12, the Youngs narrowly escaped being jailed on contempt of court charges after Judge Jones said he doubted they had turned over all the materials he’d requested.

Hunter has requested a jury trial.

North Carolina requires parties in civil litigation to attempt mediation.

robin.abcarian @latimes.com