BANGOR, Maine — A man facing one arson charge for allegedly setting a state fire marshal’s car on fire in August while investigators were on a stakeout was indicted Wednesday on additional charges, including three fires set last year in northeastern Penobscot County.
John A. Weckerly, 54, of Prentiss Township was indicted by the Penobscot County grand jury on three counts of arson, five counts of criminal mischief and one count each of aggravated criminal mischief, burglary and theft by unauthorized taking.
His arraignment date has not been set.
The new charges relate to break-ins, thefts and fires on properties near Weckerly’s land last year, Penobscot County District Attorney R. Christopher Almy said Wednesday. The fires that damaged or destroyed a garage, a seasonal camp and other structures occurred on Nov. 16, July 3 and July 20, according to a previously published report.
Weckerly was indicted in November on one count of arson in connection with the torching of the state-owned 2009 Chevrolet Impala in August. Weckerly triggered the nighttime detail when he called investigator Ed Archer of the state fire marshal’s office to renew his complaint about a logging company making too much noise near Weckerly’s property, according to court documents.
“Investigator Archer advised that each of the fires occurred shortly after John Weckerly complained to law enforcement authorities about the logging operation and was unsuccessful in his attempts to stop the woods operations,” a report filed when Weckerly was arrested in August said. “Due to this concern, a surveillance detail was planned for [Tuesday, Aug. 2].”
Weckerly was arrested without incident and charged with arson early Aug. 3 after a state police dog followed a scent from the destroyed car of Fire Marshal Sgt. Timothy York on Aurora Drive to Weckerly’s home about a half mile away. The car had been set afire with a flammable liquid, state police said.
A butane lighter was found in Weckerly’s back pocket, according to the report.
Weckerly last year denied setting the fires for which he was indicted Wednesday.
If convicted, Weckerly faces up to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000 on each of the arson charges, which are the most serious charges.
Weckerly was released on bail last year on the condition that he be strictly supervised by Volunteers of America, a pretrial services organization. Information about his bail conditions was not available Wednesday night.
Glad he’s not my neighbor.
John, you really did not use too much in the line of inventiveness when it came to putting the lighter to the Fire Marahal’s car, did you?
He was desperate to get caught.
While I have no opinion on whether he did this or not, it sounds like there is very little in the way of physical evidence to tie him to the crime. Calling and complaining before the fires is far from the slam dunk piece of evidence that the prosecutor will be looking for. A dog following a scent trail to his home and having a butane lighter??? Please, even the least experienced defense attorney could get this guy off from these charges. I am assuming they have more damaging evidence because if they don’t this guy will walk. How many people have a lighter in their pocket or home at any given time? This is very easy to explain, especially is he is a smoker or has a wood stove in his home. Sounds like this guy isn’t the brightest bulb but it also sounds like they don’t have a solid case against him.
Torching a fire marshalls car, cant help but laugh.
Holeminded,
No hole in your mind. You have a good head. Consider the following:
1. I am Chris Jones— possessing a biochemistry Ph.D.& many years academic/industrial experience, a victim of two of three of the arsons described herein plus recent illegally logged property, as reported by Nick Sambides of BDN on March 6, 2012: http://bangor-launch.newspackstaging.com/2012/03/06/news/penobscot/lakeville-man-fined-250-for-illegal-wood-harvesting/.
2. I am convinced John Weckerly did not set fire to my property on either of the dates November 16, 2010 or July 3, 2011, as detailed in this article, or on any other date heretofore.
3. I am convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the July 3, 2011 torching of my property was done by a group of individuals, rather than by the loner, John Weckerly . The near complete incineration of wood in my multi-structure dwelling plus the melting of vast amounts of aluminum and even some galvanized steel, necessitated using considerable amounts of accelerant,
much more than easily carried by a loner such as Weckerly on a moped, his form
of transportation. The fact that neither the woods nor the actors were set on fire in this complex multi-structure arson, necessitated, in my expert opinion, multiple actors with defined roles.
4. I am convinced John Weckerly did not have time to set fire to my garage door on November 16, 2011, shortly after being interrogated–by an ex-president of our road association and a State
Trooper– regarding various acts of alleged criminal mischief.
5. John Weckerly had no motive to torch structures on my property. I had only seen, who I thought to be him, twice and no word or gesture passed between us. There are others in the road association with far more motive to burn my property. More than several of those individuals detested the loner Weckerly, as well.
6. It made little sense for John Weckerly to single me out. My structures were largely
metal on the exterior, necessitating special planning/ preparation to do the
efficient resultant arson. Most camps in our development are largely wood,
making far easier targets.
Contact me at cjones1215@yahoo.com for additional information.
I’m Chris Jones, one of the arson victims of this article–arsoned on November 11, 2010 and July 3, 2011. I also have recently been illegally logged. The saying,
“Some people have all the luck, they just don’t get burned”,
does not apply to me, but it does seem to apply to one of the ex-presidents of our road association, living nearby me and John Weckerly.
Consider the following regarding this ex- president:
1. November 16, 2010: According to the ex-president, he came up from his MA residence to confront John Weckerly regarding alleged criminal mischief. Shortly after the confrontation my garage door was set on fire, allegedly by John Weckerly.
Ex-president’s camp structure: unburned.
2. July 3, 2011: my camp is really torched.
Ex-president’s camp structure: unburned.
Perhaps this is explained by the ex-president coincidentally being present, as witnessed , to protect his camp.
3. July 20,2011: John Weckerly, who dislikes logging noise, allegedly torches the camp of another road association member across the street from ongoing logging operations on the 50 acre land tract of the ex-president.
Ex-president’s camp structure: unburned.
These are only two camps with structures on this side road.
4. August 3, 2011: John Weckerly, allegedly torches a fire marshal car while noisy chipping
operations are going on at the camp of the ex-president.
Ex-president’s camp structure: unburned.
In order to commit this arson, Weckerly allegedly, as revealed by dog scent, went down past the ex-presidents camp without burning it, proceeded past the chipping operations where I have been told the three fire marshals were stationed , and allegedly set fire to the fire marshal car. Allegedly he returned along the same route to go back to his camp. All of this was allegedly done without being seen by the three fire marshals. Quite a feat.
A lot of luck going on here except for me whose luck has really been quite poor since I took the
road association to task for illegally charging increased road fees.
E-mail me at cjones1215@yahoo.com for additional information.