45 Years For Church Fire Suspects?
3 College Students Could Face Serious Jail Time For 'Joke'
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Play CBS Video Video 3 Arrested In Church Arsons Carson Carroll, deputy assistant director for ATF, who oversaw the investigation into the Alabama church arsons, speaks with Julie Chen about how they tracked down the suspects.
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Video Ala. Church Fires 'A Joke' In Alabama, three college students face charges in a series of church fires, which one suspect says started out as a joke. Jim Acosta reports from Birmingham.
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Video Arrests In Church Arson Case Agents investigating the string of Alabama church fires say they have cracked the case, arresting three college students and revealing the alleged motive behind it all. Jim Acosta reports.
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The three men arrested in the Alabama church arsons: Benjamin Nathan Moseley, left, Matthew Lee Cloyd, center, and Russell Lee DeBusk Jr. (AP/Shelby County Sheriffs Office)
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One of the suspects arrives at the courthouse. (WBRC)
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A firefighter from the West Greene Fire Department sprays water on the smoldering remains of the Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church near Boligee, Ala., in Greene County, Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2006. (AP)
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An agent from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms investigates the remains of the Morning Star Baptist church Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2006, near Boligee, Ala., after a fire destroyed the structure earlier that morning. (AP)
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Interactive Striking Fear Read profiles and crime statistics on arson.
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Interactive FIRE! A look at major fires and their victims, arson facts, and those who fight the flames.
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Agents spoke with Cloyd's parents, Kimberly and Michael Cloyd. The father, a physician, said his son admitted that "he knew who did it and he was there," according to an affidavit. Then after the arrests, Moseley described how the church arsons unfolded, the affidavit said.
"We pushed and pushed and pushed until we could make the break," said Jim Cavanaugh, regional head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. "This is a very difficult case."
DeBusk and Moseley were arrested on the same day they were featured in the campus newspaper. The article discussed their performances in campus plays, a documentary and their work in the film they had hopes of screening this fall.
Moseley wanted to head for Los Angeles after graduation, and DeBusk might have accompanied him.
"This is our crawling before we can walk," Moseley told The Hilltop News.
"You're crawlin', I'm walking," said DeBusk. "I crawled in high school."
Cloyd, who previously attended Birmingham-Southern, transferred last fall to UAB but was not believed to be involved in acting or film making with DeBusk and Moseley.
An attorney for Cloyd, Tommy Spina, declined comment on the charges, but added: "This is not a hate crime. This is not a religious crime."
Jim Parker, pastor of Ashby Baptist Church, one of the churches burned, said he heard that the suspects were promising students from good families.
"We really are concerned about them as people," he said. "I would just like to know what they were thinking."
©MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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