Jun 21, 2010 5:22 pm US/Pacific
Man Charged With Terrorism After Church Arson
A man has been charged with attempted arson and terrorism after he allegedly tried to burn down a place of worship over a dispute with fellow churchgoers.
The Citrus Heights Police Department arrested 44-year-old Jose Louis Orduno Sunday evening after discovering a flammable liquid had been set on fire near the Jehovah Witness Kingdom Hall on the 6900 block of Slyvan Road.
Orduno granted an interview to CBS13 from jail and said he was acting irrationally after a religious dispute with other members of the church, but never intended to burn the building down.
"I was drunk, depressed and mad," Orduno said. "I got some gasoline in my truck, so I put the gasoline around to the Kingdom Hall."
Orduno said he tried to put the fire out when it appeared to be spreading out of control. The Sacramento Metro Fire Department said most of the fuel burned out before it could ignite the building.
The act was sparked by anger that Kingdom hall elders had reprimanded him after he told them he and his girlfriend had become intimate, Orduno said. "They didn't know we were touching, kissing," he added.
That behavior is restricted, according to Orduno, and he was banned from leading Hall activities.
"I was just trying to tell the elders it's not fair, I'm this fellowship," he said.
Investigators said Orduno also threatened fellow churchgoers. Police charged Orduno with felony use of a flammable liquid, attempted arson to a commercial structure, terrorist acts at a religious place of worship and terrorist threats.
