|
POTTERSVILLE---A student at the Word of life Bible Institute on Glendale Road, Pottersville, is behind bars at the Warren County Jail in lieu of $250,000 bail after being charged with the burglary and arson of the Christ Episcopal Church destroyed in a May 30 fire.
Caleb Uriah Lussier, 20, of Plymouth, Mass., has been charged with two felony counts of third degree burglary and one count of felony third degree arson. The church is located less than half a mile from the Word of Life Bible Institute and Ranch, a religious organization whose beliefs may differ from the Episcopalians.
Lussier is also a suspect in a church fire last December in his hometown. According to reports, Lussier allegedly admitted that he had sent threatening letters to three churches in Plymouth and had started a fire in Plymouth's New Testament Church.
In June, a 15-year-old boy was also charged with arson in connection with the Pottersville church fire and was petitioned to Family Court as a juvenile delinquent.
Officials said that gasoline was used to start the fire.
Investigators from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms headed up the investigation in conjunction with the state Office of Fire Prevention and Control and the Warren County Sheriff's Department. ATF offered a $5,000 reward for information concerning the fire.
The building, which served a small parish of about 15, was damaged with writings of a religious connotation scrawled on the walls and a warning left as the result of burglaries at the church on May 11 and 13.
A statute of the Virgin Mary had been desecrated, the head of the statute smashed on the baptismal font. Religious items were reported stolen.
Fireman from four fire companies battled the blaze which was reported about 11 p.m. on May 30.
Parishioners said that the original church was built on the site in 1848 and had burned in the 1920s. The church which burned had been constructed in 1929. Parishioners are planning on rebuilding. 11-20-06
All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed by anyone without the express written permission of the publisher. This article is copyright protected.
© 2006 North
Country Gazette
|
