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These People Are Stupid
Son of Louisiana deputy pleads guilty to burning down 3 black churches to boost ‘black metal’ cred
Matthews faces 10 to 70 years in federal prison at his May 22 sentencing hearing. He is the son of St. Landry Parish Deputy Roy Matthews, authorities said last year.
“Matthews admitted to setting the fires, because of the religious character of these buildings, in an effort to raise his profile as a ‘black metal’ musician by copying similar crimes committed in Norway in the 1990s,” according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. “Matthews further admitted that, after setting the third fire, he posted photographs and videos on Facebook that showed the first two churches burning.
“Matthews admitted that he had taken these photographs and videos in real time on his cell phone, as he watched those churches burn, and that he had posted them to Facebook in an effort to promote himself in the black metal community.”
A statement of facts attached to his plea agreement states that Matthews used gasoline, a gas can and shop rags to set the fires. A trove of evidence photos included in the court records show what appears to be a Walmart receipt dated March 25, 2017, hours before the first fire was set at St. Mary’s Baptist Church.
The receipt is for a two-gallon Scepter brand gas can, a lighter and a 10-pack of shop towels. The charred remains of the gas can would later be found amid the rubble of one of the burned churches.
Surveillance images included among the court documents show Matthews making the purchases and putting them into a truck that prosecutors said belonged to his parents before driving away. According to The New York Times, the pickup truck was also spotted in security footage shot near the scene of each fire.
The Walmart purchases were made with Matthews’ J.P. Morgan Chase debit card, court records show. His cellphone was also tracked to the areas of the fires.
“In addition, prior to setting the third fire at Mount Pleasant Baptist Church, Matthews used the internet, a facility of interstate commerce, to disclose to fellow black metal enthusiasts that he had burned the other two churches, including by posting photographs and videos on Facebook that Matthews had taken in real time using his iPhone as those churches burned,” the documents say. “Matthews posted these photographs and videos on Facebook in an effort to promote himself as a black metal musician. Matthews received a positive reaction through Facebook to those materials, which further emboldened him to set fire to Mount Pleasant Baptist Church.”
Included in the evidence photos among court records were images that Matthews apparently created as cover art for an EP he hoped to record. In one image, a black-clad figure holding a knife stands in front of one of the burned churches, using an image found on Matthews’ cellphone.
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/louisiana-man-pleads-guilty-burning-three-baptist-churches-st-landry-parish