The Salt Lake Utah Temple in Salt Lake City. A Mississippi man was convicted Thursday of setting fire to a church associated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in 2024. File Photo by Carol M. Highsmith/Library of Congress
Sept. 18 (UPI) — A federal jury in Gulfport, Miss., has convicted a man charged with six counts of federal arson and civil rights offenses for vandalizing and setting fire to a house of worship, the Department of Justice announced Thursday.
Stefan Day Rowold set fire to the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Wiggins, Miss., on July 7, 2024.
Evidence presented at the trial suggested that Rowold targeted the church because he disagreed with its fundamental religious beliefs and principles, the Justice Department said in a release.
Rowold confessed to breaking into the building, vandalizing the interior walls and setting a fire in the middle of the church’s multi-purpose room so leaders could not hold services.
Rowold used the church’s hymnals for kindling for the fire, court records showed. He also admitted to breaking into the church two days later with the intention of creating more damage.
“The second time he broke in, Rowold set another fire using cardboard and a piece of firewood,” the Justice Department statement continued.
Rowold is scheduled to be sentenced in January. He faces a minimum of five years and a maximum of 20 years in prison on each of the arson charges, a maximum sentence of 20 years on each of the civil rights charges and a minimum of 10 years for using fire to commit a federal felony offense.