Looks like police may have nabbed 2 of the culprits.
Two Men Arrested in String of Alabama Church Fires
Police arrested two men Wednesday in connection with a string of rural church fires that plagued Alabama in early February.
Ben Moseley, 19, and Russell Debusk were taken into custody early Wednesday, officials said, and charged with conspiracy and individual counts in the arsons at five Bibb County churches and four in west Alabama.
A third suspect is still being sought.
Police said they did not receive any tips to lead to the arrest and that it was due to “old-fashioned police work.”
…
|
Related post: The Fire Starting Hater of the Church Will Not Succeed
update (3/8/2006 3:21PM ET): Stop The ACLU has photos of Ben Moseley and Russell Debusk.
update (3/8/2006 8:15PM ET): Good news, all 3 suspects are in police custody and one of them is already talking.
Third Suspect Arrested in String of Alabama Church Fires
Three suspects were arrested Wednesday in connection with a string of rural church fires that plagued Alabama in early February in what one of the suspects is saying started out as a “joke” that went too far.
Matthew Lee Cloyd, 20, was in federal custody along with Benjamin Moseley and Russell Lee DeBusk Jr., both 19. Moseley and DeBusk, both students at the Birmingham Southern College, were arrested and arraigned earlier in the day, facing charges of conspiracy and individual counts in the arsons at five Bibb County churches and four in west Alabama, officials said.
…
An affidavit from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms said Moseley told agents on Wednesday that he, Cloyd and DeBusk went to Bibb County in Cloyd’s Toyota sport utility vehicle on Feb. 2 and set fire to five churches. A witness quoted Cloyd as saying Moseley did it “as a joke and it got out of hand,” according to the affidavit.
…
A 10th rural Baptist church fire, in Lamar County, has been ruled arson but is not believed to be connected to the others. It was discovered on Feb. 11.
|
Some (Liberal) church groups were trying to pressure President Bush to reopen a special church arson task force, that was started by former President Clinton. President Bush refused to do so. Now it appears the President’s trust in local authorities and the FBI was well placed. Without any special (costly) task force the suspects behind most of the fires have been caught. Now I wonder if those (Liberal) church groups that made demands of President Bush will concede that Bush made the right move, to trust the local authorities? OK, so I know they won’t, but I had to ask.
