The daily Astorian., April 16, 2019, Page A5, Image 5

A5
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TuESDAY, ApRIL 16, 2019
Officials say evidence points to church fire suspect
By MELINDA DESLATTE
Associated press
OPELOUSAS, La. —
The white man charged in
the burnings of three Loui-
siana black churches faces a
mountain of evidence tying
him to the crimes, document-
ing the fires on his cellphone
and an interest in arson on
Facebook, the state fire mar-
shal said Monday at a hear-
ing that offered new insight
into how officials tracked
their suspect.
Holden Matthews bought
a gas can and oil rags similar
to those found at the site of
the fires, he recorded a con-
versation with a friend in
which he talked about using
gasoline to burn churches,
and his cellphone held
images of the fires before
law
enforcement
even
arrived to the blazes, Lou-
isiana Fire Marshal Butch
Browning testified at Mat-
thews’ bond hearing.
The 21-year-old Mat-
thews — the son of a sher-
iff’s deputy — entered a
not guilty plea Monday
via video conference from
the St. Landry Parish jail,
as prosecutors added new
charges declaring the arsons
a hate crime.
“There is a substan-
tial amount of evidence, it
appears,” state District Judge
James Doherty said before
denying Matthews’ bond
request, keeping him in jail.
In his testimony for pros-
ecutors, Browning outlined
a litany of evidence that he
said tied Matthews to the
torching of the three black
churches over 10 days.
The
fire
marshal
described cellphone records
placing Matthews at the fire
Leslie Westbrook/The Advocate
Firefighters respond to an April 4 blaze at Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church, in Opelousas, La.
locations. On his phone,
Browning said, Matthews
had images of the church
fires in the early stages and
the destruction days after the
churches were set ablaze, in
addition to copies of news
reports about the fires.
“He actually superim-
posed himself on those news
reports, claiming respon-
sibility for these fires,”
Browning said.
Video surveillance near
the churches showed a truck
similar to the one Matthews
drives, Browning said. Mat-
thews also exchanged text
messages with a friend who
asked about the fires: “Was
that your work?” the fire
marshal said.
In addition, Brown-
ing said Matthews posted
on Facebook about and
showed interest in a movie
called “Lords of Chaos,”
which Browning said is a
recent Norwegian film that
involved church burnings.
“The evidence we have
was unequivocal,” Brown-
ing said. Later he added: “He
has clearly demonstrated the
characteristics of a patholog-
ical fire setter.”
Pond: Construction could begin in May Jewell: Studies show
Continued from page A1
include a pond, along with
a utility building, bathrooms
and a kiosk to hold model
boats. It will host field trips,
summer camps and public
rentals.
The grant represents the
final one-third of the cost
of the project, while the rest
is borne by donations, said
Bruce Jones, the deputy
director of the museum and
Astoria’s mayor.
Steve Moore, the exec-
utive director of the Mur-
dock trust, said in a news
release that the organization
awarded the grant because
of the project’s promise of
bringing educational and
historical subjects to life in
ways that will inspire and
entertain.
“The Columbia River
Maritime Museum col-
lects, preserves, displays
and interprets the maritime
history and culture of the
‘SINCE OuR puRCHASE OF THE NORTH COAST AuTO
pROpERTY REMOVED JuST uNDER $7,000 IN ANNuAL
pROpERTY TAX FROM THE COuNTY TAX ROLLS, WE
BELIEVE IT’S IMpORTANT TO RETuRN A GREATER
VALuE TO THE COMMuNITY BY OpENING THE pARK
TO THE puBLIC, MAINTAINED BY THE MuSEuM’
Bruce Jones | deputy director of the Columbia River Maritime Museum and Astoria’s mayor
Columbia River, its tribu-
taries, and the waters of the
North Pacific with engag-
ing methods,” he said. “We
are grateful to partner with
them as they work to inspire
the next generation of engi-
neers as well as inform and
educate local students and
families.”
The museum still needs
approval from the Planning
Commission to transition
the former auto dealership
into a park.
Construction on the pond
could begin in May, with a
ribbon-cutting during the
125th Astoria Regatta Fes-
tival in August, Jones said.
The pond and surrounding
park will be open to the pub-
lic but include security cam-
eras and lighting to deter bad
behavior.
“Since our purchase of
the North Coast Auto prop-
erty removed just under
$7,000 in annual property
tax from the county tax rolls,
we believe it’s important to
return a greater value to the
community by opening the
park to the public, main-
tained by the museum, and
by reopening a viewshed
of the historic train depot
and Columbia River which
had been blocked for many
decades,” Jones wrote in an
email.
Nate Sandel, director of
education at the museum,
said the park will include a
wide array of boats for dif-
ferent ages and skill levels,
from single-piece wooden
hulls to radio-controlled
vessels. The museum is still
working out how public
rentals will work.
‘We’ll have a flag on the
kiosk we’ll raise to let peo-
ple know it’s open,” he said.
health centers help
reduce absenteeism
Continued from page A1
Swearingen and Wam-
mack remained in support
of moving forward with the
health center. Kaczenski
was not at the meeting, but
Swearingen said he had
reached out and affirmed
her support. Stahly said
he would favor looking at
the health center next year,
while Meier said nothing
had changed for him.
“All I’m going to say
is they’ve had approval
every time they’ve asked
for it, and I personally
wouldn’t want to deal with
an agency that basically
pulls out and throws a fit,”
Meier said.
Phillips said he plans to
report that a majority of the
school board supports the
health center.
As of last year, there
were nearly 80 school-
based health centers in 25
Oregon counties. Stud-
ies have shown the centers
help reduce absenteeism,
tardiness and behavioral
issues.
The Astoria School
Board, facing a backlash
by some residents con-
cerned over reproductive
health services and parent
permission, voted in 2013
not to move forward with
one. The Knappa School
Board recently bowed out
of pursuing a grant this
school year after the public
expressed concerns over
location, safety, access,
quality of providers, extra
foot traffic, drug deals and
child abuse.
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