BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (ABP) — Law enforcement officials arrested three men March 8 in connection with a string of nine fires at Baptist churches in rural Alabama.
Benjamin Nathan Moseley and Russell Lee Debusk, both 19-year-old students at Birmingham-Southern College, said they set the fires as a “joke,” authorities said.
Moseley and Debusk appeared in federal court March 8 on charges of arson and conspiracy, according to the office of Alabama Gov. Bob Riley. Later that day, officials also arrested 20-year-old Matthew Lee Cloyd, a student at the University of Alabama in Birmingham.
If convicted, the students could face a minimum sentence of five years for each church they burned, according to U.S. Attorney Alice Martin. The three have a bail hearing scheduled for March 10.
“It's a good day for Alabama,” Gov. Bob Riley, a Baptist, said at a March 8 press conference. The governor said that church members can “rest easier” knowing the fires did not constitute an organized attack on religion.
According to news reports, the suspects told authorities they initially set the fires as a “joke” and continued setting them in order to divert federal attention.
Joan Smith, a member of Antioch Baptist Church in nearby Fairview, told Associated Baptist Press she hopes the arrests create some closure for the churches affected by the fires.
“We just pray for justice and strength for the churches who went through this,” she said.
At the news conference, James Cavanaugh, an official of the federal Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agency, said his department used forensic evidence in identifying the suspects.
“We did not have a tip,” he said.
An ATF affidavit said Moseley told agents the suspects drove Cloyd's Toyota 4Runner when they set fire to the first five churches, according to the Associated Press. Cavanaugh told reporters tire tracks found at six of the burned sites matched those from Cloyd's vehicle.
Bibb County Sheriff Johnny Isaac did not return phone calls about the case.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives made the arrests. More than 100 ATF personnel sorting through more than 800 leads worked on the case in the days following the initial fires, which burned during the early morning Feb. 3. All told, arsonists set fire to nine Baptist churches in nearly two weeks. A tenth fire, although ruled arson, has yet to be connected to the initial nine.
Fires completely destroyed Ashby Baptist Church in Brierfield, Rehobeth Baptist Church in Randolph and Pleasant Sabine Baptist Church near Centreville on the night of Feb. 2-3. The other two churches, Old Union Baptist in Randolph and Antioch Baptist in Centreville, sustained damage but escaped complete destruction.
All of the churches but Pleasant Sabine belonged to the Southern Baptist Convention, the statewide Alabama Baptist Convention and the local Bibb County Baptist Association.
Another string of fires Feb. 7 completely destroyed the Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church, near Boligee, and Galilee Baptist Church in Panola. Dancy Baptist Church near Aliceville and Spring Valley Baptist Church near Emelle suffered some damage.
Police said at an earlier point during the investigation they suspected two young men of setting the fires. The likely motive for the fires was that the men simply liked to make and watch fires, federal agents said.
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–Grace Thornton of The Alabama Baptist contributed to this story.