Canadian Black Metal Arsonists Receive Jail Time

Dean Pritchard of The Winnipeg Sun has issued the following report:

A fire that razed the 105-year-old Minnedosa United Church last winter was a hate crime sparked by a hatred of Christianity and a love of black metal music, a court heard yesterday (June 27).

Kelsey Ray Taylor, Deanna Lynn Mathews and Mark Wishart (view photo) shared an "ideology of desecration" that destroyed a community landmark and rocked the faith of local church members, Crown attorney Jim Ross said at the trio's sentencing hearing.

"They share an ideology that people of faith are the enemy," Ross said. "They targeted a church for destruction because it's a symbol."

All three pleaded guilty to arson earlier this year.

The Minnedosa fire had clear links to a worldwide arson movement inspired by a Norwegian black metal musician, Ross told court.

The church was set ablaze on the birthday of Varg Vikernes, a black metal musician now serving time in prison in Norway for murdering a bandmate and burning several churches.

Vikernes has inspired dozens of copycat church burnings around the world, a list that now includes the Minnedosa United Church, Ross said.

The night of the fire, Taylor, 21, and Mathews, 19, a California native and Taylor's girlfriend of two weeks, visited Wishart, 20, in Minnedosa. After drinking awhile in a cemetery, Wishart suggested they burn down the church, Ross said. Taylor, reluctant to lose face, agreed, and the trio drove to Wishart's grandmother's home where they picked up a can of gasoline.

Read the full article at WinnipegSun.com.

Source: Blabbermouth