Posted: 3/08/06
Two arrested in Alabama church fires
By Hannah Elliott
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (ABP) — Law enforcement officials arrested two men March 8 in connection with a string of Baptist church fires in rural Alabama.
Ben Moseley and Russell Debusk, both college students in the Birmingham area, appeared in federal court on suspicion of burning 10 churches, according to the office of Alabama Gov. Bob Riley. Officials continue to search for a third person, Matthew Lee Cloyd, as a suspect in the case.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives made the arrest. The agency declined to comment directly on the arrests until a 2 p.m. CST news conference today.
On the night of Feb. 2-3, fires completely destroyed Ashby Baptist Church in Brierfield, Rehobeth Baptist Church in Randolph and Pleasant Sabine Baptist Church near Centreville. The other two churches, Old Union Baptist in Brierfield and Antioch Baptist in Antioch, 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.
We seek to connect God’s story and God’s people around the world. To learn more about God’s story, click here.
Send comments and feedback to Eric Black, our editor. For comments to be published, please specify “letter to the editor.” Maximum length for publication is 300 words.