A 22-year-old Columbus man has been sentenced to almost four years in jail after pleading guilty for his role in vandalizing and stealing from multiple churches in Brown County almost three years ago.
Renzo Signorino was sentenced on March 30 to serve three-and-a-half years in the Brown County jail. He has been there since his arrest on Aug. 23, 2018, and those 781 executed days are included in his sentence.
The same day he was sentenced, Signorino pleaded guilty to burglary, a Level 5 felony; three counts of institutional criminal mischief, Class A misdemeanors; and conspiracy to commit burglary, a Level 5 felony. The remaining counts were dismissed as part of the plea deal.
Police from Brown and Bartholomew counties worked together to make arrests almost a year after the churches were vandalized.
The string of vandalism and thefts at churches in both counties began on June 22, 2017, at the Way of Holiness Church on Hurdle Road in Brown County. A Warwick bass guitar was stolen from that church, according to a press release from Prosecutor Ted Adams.
On July 5, the St. Agnes Catholic Church office was broken into. Vandals entered the church office only, not the actual church, to write on the walls, according to an August 2018 probable cause affidavit filed by Det. Brian Shrader with the Brown County Sheriff’s Department.
A window also was broken out, several candy bars were taken and so was a checking deposit book, but some of the items were found on an air conditioning unit outside.
Crosses at St. Agnes were hung upside-down on the wall “as if to signify something,” he reported. A glove was left 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.
The next day, on July 6, Pikes Peak Church on Bellsville Pike was vandalized by Signorino and an alleged accomplice. 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 probable cause affidavit, it was revealed that the phrase was “God works in mysterious ways.”
That same phrase was found in a note left 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 was collected as part of the investigation.
“Law enforcement went after cellphone data from local cellphone towers to determine if we could harvest any persons of interest. This was, seemingly, an entirely random act conducted by the same people,” Adams said.
In August 2018, investigators from Brown and Bartholomew counties received information from the Federal Bureau of Investigations, which was investigating arson and criminal mischief at a synagogue in Carmel.
In that matter, Nolan Brewer was convicted of a federal hate crime. His wife, Kiyomi Brewer, was a juvenile at the time. She was waived into adult court and convicted of the arson of the synagogue in state court, according to Adams’ press release.
The investigators in southern Indiana were notified about similarities between the synagogue arson and the church vandalism in the Brown and Bartholomew counties. Police then interviewed Kiyomi Brewer.
“(She) denied participating in the Brown and Bartholomew county matters; however, she claimed she knew that Renzo Signorino told her he had perpetrated the acts. She supplied information known only to investigators,” Adams said.
Signorino initially denied his role in the matter, but eventually admitted that he helped, including writing “God works in mysterious ways. He also admitted to storing the missing bass guitar in his closet.
Signorino is required to complete an additional 499 days of probation as part of his plea agreement. He also has to undergo a mental health assessment and a drug and alcohol assessment, perform 150 hours of community service, and pay more than $3,000 in restitution that was requested by the Ohio Chapel Methodist Church in Bartholomew County.
Adams recognized the four impacted churches for extending grace to Signorino.
“It is truly touching, and these folks deserve recognition for practicing their Christian values when it came to Mr. Signorino. Still, punishment for these dreadful, senseless acts, seemingly without motive, is absolutely appropriate,” Adams said.
Adams thanked the officers who helped with the case, including Shrader and Special Agent Bradley Bookwalter with the FBI, along with prosecutors in Bartholomew County.
“We will be convening as a team to determine whether additional charges should be filed against Mr. Signorino’s claimed co-defendant,” Adams said about Kyomi Brewer.
