'Person of interest' held in holiday arson fires

DANIEL TEPFER and MICHAEL P. MAYKO Staff writers
Article Last Updated: 11/24/2007 12:37:46 AM EST

BRIDGEPORT — A man described by authorities as a "person of interest" in Thanksgiving Day arsons that damaged a church and two houses in the city's West End has two prior arson convictions in Ohio.

William T. Leathers, 44, was arraigned on an unrelated charge Friday in Superior Court. His hands and feet shackled, he was brought to court to face a charge of interfering with a police officer.

Assistant State's Attorney Pamela Esposito urged Judge Howard Owens to hold Leathers in lieu of bond because investigators want to question him further in the arson probe.

The judge agreed and ordered Leathers held in lieu of $5,000 cash-only bond. He continued the case to Dec. 6.

According to court records, for the past eight months Leathers has been living at 172 Grove St. with his wife and 3-month-old son.

When he was an Ohio resident, he was convicted in at least two prior arson cases.

The Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church at 110 Grove St., and two unoccupied houses at 160-162 and 175 Grove St. were damaged by set fires early Thursday.

While the fires were being investigated, officers interviewed a man, who gave his name as Winston Gordon and claimed to be affiliated with the church. But witnesses later told police that they had seen a man, who matched the description of "Winston Gordon," walking from behind the house at 160-162 Grove St. shortly before a fire erupted there.

When police attempted to talk to the man again, he fled and jumped over a fence into a neighboring yard. He later was taken into custody and identified as William Leathers, police said.

Meanwhile, members of the State Police Forensic Laboratory are expected to begin testing fire-charred evidence taken from the three suspected arson sites.

Crime scene scientists will analyze the wood to determine what accelerant may have been used to ignite the fires. They'll also inspect the burn patterns to determine where in the buildings the fires began.

For much of Thursday morning and afternoon, a team of state and local arson investigators led by State Police Sgt. William Llewellyn and Bridgeport Deputy Fire Marshal Nick Novia combed the three fire scenes for evidence. They took pails of material from each of the three sites.

Neighborhood residents said the three fires Thursday came in the wake of two other blazes in the area earlier in the week. A car and a portable garage burned in those incidents.

On Friday morning, a cleaning crew began working on sections of the church that suffered fire and smoke damage.

"We had to hire professionals," said the Rev. Donald Luster, senior minister and pastor of the 250-member congregation. "We needed people who have the experience and know the solutions that can be used to clean without damaging our stained-glass windows and our stained wood."

Luster said the 12-person crew began work at 8 a.m. Friday and will work through today to get the church ready for the 10 a.m. Sunday service.

The heaviest damage was at the site where the fire apparently was started — a rear room used primarily by the church choir.

Luster said the insurance adjuster looked over the damage on Thanksgiving.

"Hopefully, he'll be able to give us some numbers next week," the pastor said.

An electrician shut off power to the damaged room, and inspected the building to determine if there were any loose, exposed or damaged wires, according to Norsie Tucker-Hare, vice chairman of the church's board of trustees.

"It just doesn't make sense to do this to a church," said Tucker-Hare, "especially this time of year."

All that will play into Luster's Sunday sermon to his congregation.

"Clearly this was no accident," the pastor said. "Nobody likes a fire, but it could have been worse. Luckily my measure of getting people to close doors helped contain this fire."

Nevertheless, Luster said he'll be preaching Sunday "that evil is all around us now more than ever before."

He said he'll tell the congregation that the fire was evil's way of saying, "I'm here. I want my presence known. I want everyone to know I'm here in spite of the seasons of Thanksgiving and Advent."

"It's important that we transmit this message to our children, our grandchildren, our nieces and nephews and our friends and neighbors," he said.