Police in Brown and Bartholomew counties have made an arrest in the vandalism of four area churches from last summer.
The break in the case came last week during an investigation into vandalism at a synagogue in Carmel.
Renzo Signorino, 20, of Columbus, was arrested on a warrant in Bartholomew County on Aug. 23.
A 17-year-old girl also is connected to this case and charges are pending, a press release said.
Three churches in Brown County and one in Bartholomew County were vandalized last summer between June 21 and July 7. At the Ohio Chapel Church in western Bartholomew County, vandals also tried to set the church on fire.
The investigation took a turn on Aug. 20 when Det. Will Kinman with Bartholomew County received a call from an FBI agent.
The agent said he was helping with the arson and criminal mischief case that occurred at a Carmel synagogue on July 28, and that two people had been arrested: a 17-year-old girl and a 20-year-old man. The detective said the girl had alluded to possibly doing a similar act in Hope in Bartholomew County.
Last summer, Way of Holiness Tabernacle on Hurdle Road was broken into late in the evening of June 21. At that time, Brown County Det. Brian Shrader said he could not release what was stolen since they were still searching for the suspect. Court paperwork filed on Aug. 23 stated that a projector, printer cartridges, a green Warwick bass guitar and a second Warwick guitar were stolen.
St. Agnes Catholic Church on McLary Road reported burglary and vandalism on July 6. Shrader said vandals entered the St. Agnes church office only, not the actual church, to write on the walls. In the Aug. 23 affidavit, Shrader reported that a window was broken out and several candy bars had been stolen. A checking deposit book was also taken, but some of the items were discovered on an air conditioning unit outside.
Crosses were hung upside-down on the wall “as if to signify something,” he reported. A glove was left behind at the office and its match was found next to the youth barn at the church. The water in the sink also had been left on and the toilet had been wedged to run continuously.
On July 7, deputies responded to the Pike’s Peak Church of Christ on Bellsville Pike for a third report of burglary and vandalism. Grape juice had been poured through the church and items had been smashed off the walls. A bottle of water had been placed on the pulpit upside-down, so when someone moved it the water would spill out.
A phrase was written on a dry erase board in the church, but police wouldn’t say what it was at that time. In the Aug. 23, affidavit it was revealed that the phrase was “God works in mysterious ways.”
That same phrase was found in a handwritten note at Ohio Chapel Church in western Bartholomew County on July 7. The suspects vandalized that church and tried to set it on fire.
Cellphone data also was collected as part of the investigation.
The confessions
On Aug. 16, the FBI and Carmel police announced they’d arrested 20-year-old Nolan Brewer of Greencastle and a 17-year-old girl in connection with the defacement of the Carmel synagogue. Nazi flags and iron crosses were painted on the walls of a trash enclosure, and the girl was accused of setting a small fire at the synagogue as well, according to the Indianapolis Star.
During conversations with police after her arrest for the Carmel vandalism, the girl said she had lived in Brown and Bartholomew counties and had attended Brown County High School. She confessed to being a part of the church vandalism in Carmel, the police report said.
The FBI’s investigation turned up pieces of writing by the girl which included the phrase, “God works in mysterious ways.”
On Aug. 21, Shrader and Kinman went to speak with her at the Hamilton County Juvenile Correctional Facility.
She told the detectives she had nothing to do with the vandalism cases in their counties and that she did not have a car a year ago. She denied writing the phrase, but Shrader noted that her body language indicated she was “holding back.” When he told her it was OK to speak with the detectives, she started to tear up, the report said.
She told the police she did not do the vandalism, but Signorino did. She said he told her he broke into the churches to find propane tanks.
The girl had firsthand knowledge of the case that was not released to the public, including that crosses had been flipped upside-down and that a cross was placed upside down in a toilet at the Bartholomew County church, the police report said.
She also told police that Signorino had the stolen bass guitar at his home and she was able to describe it in great detail, including the brand and that it was a five-string bass.
On Aug. 22, the detectives found Signorino at work on Indianapolis Road. He denied having anything to do with the vandalism cases and said he saw the green bass guitar at the girl’s house.
When the detectives told him they had cellphone data, he told them he drove the girl to about four or five churches but he had no idea what she was doing, the police report said. He said he saw her come out with a guitar case, but he thought she bought it. He did admit to having the bass guitar at his house, he said the girl had stashed it there and he forgot it was there.
After being told the detectives had DNA that showed a man and a woman were at the vandalized churches, Signorino said he went into three churches in Brown County and one in Bartholomew County to see what the girl was doing, but that he only touched a few things and put them back, the report said.
Kinman had Signorino write the phrase “God works in mysterious ways” on his notebook. When Signorino was told that the handwriting was almost identical to what was written in the churches, he confessed to writing it.
He said he assumed the juvenile had sold the rest of the stolen property. He admitted to finding a tiki torch at the Ohio Chapel Church and said the girl was “dead set” on setting a fire.
When asked why he targeted four churches, he said it was to “blow off steam.”
The detectives followed Signorino to his house where he showed them the stolen bass guitar, the report said.
On Aug. 23, Signorino was charged with the following:
- Burglary, a Level 5 felony (Way of Holiness Tabernacle Church)
- Theft, a Level 6 felony (Way of Holiness Tabernacle Church)
- Institutional criminal mischief, a Class A misdemeanor (Way of Holiness Tabernacle Church)
- Burglary, a Level 5 felony (St. Agnes Catholic Church)
- Institutional criminal mischief, a Class A misdemeanor (St. Agnes Catholic Church)
- Institutional criminal mischief, a Class A misdemeanor (Pikes Peak Church)
He was booked in the Brown County jail on Aug. 23 and was being held on $5,000 bond.
