While investigators believe many if not all of the fires were set by the same person or persons, these same investigators are quick to tell you that not all fires are alike. The churches hit so far have their differences; differences in denominations, and differences in the time and day of the week that the arsonist(s) have struck. At least three other church fires in the Lone star state are also under investigation, this as federal state and local investigators continue to pour over the charred evidence that remains at the various crime scenes.

Arson is a hard crime to quantify in the United States. In a recent year one reporting agency said there were 31,000 arson cases in America with 305 deaths and $755 million dollars in losses while another agency reported 324,000 arsons with 490 deaths and $1.1 billion in losses. What most reporting agencies do agree on, however, is that only about 16% of such fires are solved by investigation. What makes arson a tough crime to solve is that most if not all evidence of the crime is usually consumed in the blaze itself.

Arson investigators and others have developed psychological profiles for those who set fires. The problem with these profiles is that they are based upon information about identified arsonists. But with 84% of arsonists escaping identification, there is just so much about the crime and those who commit it that we really don’t know much about. What we do know is that approximately 50% of the identified arsonists are under the age of 18.

In 2006 investigators in Alabama were faced with an ever expanding string of church fires. Three young college students were eventually identified and sentenced to almost a decade in prison for their crimes. There were nearly 200 suspicious church fires in 2006 and almost 500 in a recent four-year period. Churches are, unfortunately, easy targets for arsonists. They are unoccupied many times during the day and almost always at night. In the case of the Alabama and now the Texas church fires, congregants and pastors are sleeping in their churches in order to protect the building from attack.

Like in any other crime, investigators seek to determine the motive for arson. Some suggest arson is the product of mental illness while others believe that those who intentionally fires are sociopaths and potential murderers. In the case of arson, motive may include anger, revenge, or hate. In some cases the criminal uses fire instead of physical assault to attack his victim. Other motives include arson for profit. For instance, the fire setter derives some benefit from the arson, perhaps an insurance payment or some other personal or financial reward. Such has been the case with some houses being set aflame after the home loan financial meltdown in the past few years.

Arson is also committed to conceal another crime, as was the case in Richmond, VA, on New Year’s Day 2006. Finding their way into the home of the Harvey family of four, their assailants brutally murdered the adult parents and their two daughters. A fire was set then by their killers, Ricky Gray and Ray Dandridge, in an attempt to destroy evidence of the mass murder. Gray and Dandridge killed three other people that same week before arrested and charged with the seven deaths.

Arson can be committed as a form of political protest, such as the burning of abortion clinics by radical anti-abortion groups or perhaps cross burnings done as a form of racial discrimination. Lastly there is the motive of vandalism or thrill seeking. This is a stupid, meaningless act of juvenile delinquency, perhaps done out of sheer boredom. I’ll leave it up to the court appointed psychiatrists to discuss the assorted psychological factors that contribute to these various motives.

From the investigative side of this case, federal agents, local officers, and criminal and geographic profilers will be looking for the epicenter of the crime spree. They will investigate whether these crimes were conducted along some continuing route, perhaps a line or a semi-circle or even a circle. They want to determine where the arsonist(s) might live or work or have otherwise been going to or coming from at the time of the fires. Whether the arsons were set to cover burglaries or other crimes has yet to be determined. Were these hate crimes; crimes committed against the religious community, and if so, why? Could one church have been the primary target, with the other churches set ablaze simply to conceal the “real” target of the fire setters? Parishioners of the local churches are obviously overwhelmed by the crimes. As one parishioner said, “Not a Bible, not a hymnal was left.” The lack of evidence, of course, is the challenge for investigators.

Investigators have released sketches of suspects, so-called “persons of interest” in these crimes, and physical evidence has been found at one or more of the crime scenes, (not all churches burned to the ground), that investigators believe will link the offender(s) to the arsons.

Whether these were crimes of adolescent boredom—joyriding teenagers with nothing to do who decided to see how many churches they could burn, or fires set to cover simple burglaries, or even hate crimes directed against the local religious community, the number of investigators assigned to this case will in all likelihood quickly lead to the fire setters themselves. Teenagers, especially if more than one is involved, have a tendency to talk, perhaps brag to others about what they did. It is, after all, the aftermath of the arson, seeing the results of their “handiwork,” that provides many arsonists with the psychological/sexual reward or satisfaction they seek. Other suspects will likely be identified by the physical evidence found at the crime scenes and by the combined efforts of investigators and local residents in bringing these criminals to justice.

The bottom line is that no matter who committed these arsons, and no matter their twisted motive for doing so, these are crimes that reflect on our country. It makes no difference whether the attack was against a mosque, a synagogue or an old Texas church, and no matter whether the ethnic background of the congregations, these arsons are a crime against all citizens. They must be solved. A $25,000 reward has already been offered to anyone who provides information that helps identify the fire setters. Let’s hope that a combination of good investigative techniques, and a few loose lips, will quickly lead to the solution of these crimes of hate, revenge, bigotry, or just plain stupidity.