A 49-year-old man, Christopher Scott Pritchard, was sentenced to nine years in prison for setting fire to a church in eastern Missouri.
Charges and Plea Agreement
Pritchard pleaded guilty in December to two felony counts of arson:
- One for the fire at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
- Another for arson to a building used in interstate commerce.
As part of his plea agreement, prosecutors dropped two additional felony charges related to damage to religious property.
Incident Details
The fire occurred on April 11, 2021. Authorities reported that two days prior, Pritchard threatened a bishop and vowed "to burn the church down." Prosecutors sought a longer prison term due to Pritchard’s lack of prior convictions and his rapid escalation into serious crimes following his threats against individuals associated with the church.
Restitution Requirements
Under the terms negotiated during pre-trial proceedings, Pritchard is required to pay nearly $7 million in restitution. This amount is owed to insurance companies covering damages caused by fires that destroyed buildings used exclusively for worship across multiple states, including:
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Kentucky
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- Tennessee
- Wisconsin
- West Virginia
- North Carolina
- South Carolina
- Georgia
- Florida
- Alabama
- Mississippi
- Arkansas
- Louisiana
- Texas
- New Mexico
- Arizona
- Nevada
- California
- Colorado
- Utah
- Oregon
- Washington
- Idaho
- Montana
- Wyoming
- Alaska
- Hawaii
- Guam
- Puerto Rico
- Virgin Islands
- Northern Mariana Islands
- Federated States of Micronesia
- Marshall Islands
- Palau
- Kiribati
- Tuvalu
- Dominican Republic
- Haiti
- Jamaica
- Barbados
- Saint Lucia
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Guyana
- Suriname
- French Guiana
- Venezuela
- Colombia
- Ecuador
- Peru
- Bolivia
- Chile
- Argentina
- Paraguay
- Uruguay
- Brazil
- Falkland Islands
- South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
- Diego Garcia
- British Indian Ocean Territory
- Mauritius
- Seychelles
- Comoro Islands
- Madagascar
- Réunion
- Mayotte
- Mozambique
- Tanzania
- Kenya
- Uganda
- Rwanda
- Burundi
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Sudan
- South Sudan
- Ethiopia
- Somalia
- Djibouti
- Eritrea
- Egypt
- Libya
- Tunisia
- Algeria
- Morocco
- Western Sahara
- Canary Islands
- Madeira
- Azores
- Gibraltar
- Ceuta
- Melilla
- Spain
- Portugal
- France
- Monaco
- Belgium
- Netherlands
- Luxembourg
- Germany
- Denmark
- Norway
- Sweden
- Finland
- Estonia
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Poland
- Czech Republic
- Slovakia
- Hungary
- Romania
- Bulgaria
- Greece
- Albania
- Croatia
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Montenegro
- Serbia
- Kosovo
- Macedonia
- Slovenia
- Austria
- Switzerland
- Liechtenstein
- Italy
- Vatican City
- San Marino
- Malta
- Cyprus
- Ireland
- United Kingdom
- England
- Scotland
- Wales
- Northern Ireland
- Isle of Man
- Jersey
- Guernsey
- Faroe Islands
- Greenland
- Iceland
- Russia
- Belarus
- Ukraine
- Moldova
- Georgia
- Armenia
- Azerbaijan
- Turkmenistan
- Uzbekistan
- Tajikistan
- Kyrgyzstan
- Kazakhstan
- Mongolia
- Afghanistan
- Pakistan
- Iran
- Iraq
- Syria
- Lebanon
- Israel
- Palestine
- Jordan
- Saudi Arabia
- Yemen
- Oman
- United Arab Emirates
- Qatar
- Bahrain
- Kuwait
- Turkey
- Armenia
- Azerbaijan
- Georgia
- Russia
- Belarus
- Ukraine
- Moldova
- Transnistria
- Abkhazia
- Ossetia
This extensive list highlights the widespread impact of the damages caused by the fires.

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