Torching South MS church ‘brought him joy,’ he told police. Now he’s on trial
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- Rowold admitted to vandalizing and setting fire to a Wiggins LDS church twice.
- Authorities charged Rowold federally with two counts of arson, facing 20 years.
- Rowold expressed anti-LDS motives and claimed a divine mandate for his actions.
Stefan Day Rowold testified that he had a “spiritual awakening” that only intensified his hatred for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and everything it represented.
As a result, Rowold, 36, told investigators in Wiggins that it “brought him joy” to vandalize and twice set fire to the LDS church in Wiggins around the Fourth of July 2024, Wiggins Police Lt. David Roberts testified at Rowold’s federal trial in Gulfport.
“You don’t know the joy I got from this,” Rowold said. But he admitted he was disappointed after the first fire because the building didn’t burn down. He said he returned days later to “finish what he started.”
Rowold claimed he hated the LDS church because he believed it promotes polygamy and trafficks children for sex. He said he received his “epiphany from God” long after his own conviction for child molestation, which made him a registered sex offender.
Rowold made these statements during interviews with Wiggins police, federal agents, and the deputy fire marshal investigating the case. At the time of his arrest, he was homeless and living in a tent.
He is now on trial on a six-count federal indictment charging him with two counts each of arson, damaging of religious property and use of fire to commit a felony. If convicted, he faces up to life in prison.
Recordings played in court showed Rowold admitting that he broke into the church, vandalized it, and set it on fire on July 4, 2024, then returned two days later, on July 7, to try again. He told investigators he used a cinder block to smash through a back door during the break-ins.
Rowold also told a federal investigator, “Jesus chose me to do his will on Earth.”
Church members discovered the damage when they arrived for Sunday services on July 7.
During the first break-in, Rowold spray-painted slurs such as “Child Molesters,” “Cowards,” and “False Prophets” on the walls. He also piled hymnals, copies of the Book of Mormon, and religious paintings in the multipurpose building and set them on fire. The flames did not spread as he hoped.
Two days later, Rowold returned. He told investigators he had forgotten a lighter, so he turned on a stove burner inside the church and used it to ignite paper. He then set a fire near a wall with cardboard and wood, using gasoline as an accelerant.
The deputy fire marshal testified that Rowold’s description matched details that investigators had never released publicly, including the stove burner being left on.
In other interviews, Rowold called Mormons “evil people” and accused them of abusing both children and women. He told investigators, “I was disappointed more than anything that the building was still standing.”
The damage included the destruction of a framed painting of Jesus Christ and a framed copy of the LDS “Articles of Faith.” The church did not reopen until February, a church leader testified.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jonathan Buckner and Chloe Neely are prosecuting the case. Rowold is represented by defense attorneys Leilani Tynes and Victoria McIntyre. Testimony is scheduled to resume Wednesday.
In addition to his federal charges, Rowold is a convicted sex offender. According to the National Sex Offender Registry, he was convicted of child molestation in Michigan in 2020 and has repeatedly failed to register in Mississippi and other states. He also faces separate state charges in this case.
This story was originally published September 17, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
