Coast man convicted of arson for twice setting fire to South MS church
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Federal jury convicted Stefan Day Rowold for arson and vandalism of LDS church.
- Rowold admitted setting fires twice and expressed hatred toward Mormon religion.
- Church sustained severe damage; Rowold faces life in prison at January sentencing.
A federal jury on Wednesday found a 36-year-old man guilty of vandalizing and setting fire to a church in Wiggins.
The jury reached its verdict quickly Wednesday afternoon. The defendant, Stefan Day Rowold, faces up to life in prison and will be sentenced in January.
In closing arguments, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Buckner argued Rowold burned the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints building because of hatred toward the Mormon religion. Rowold also confessed to police.
“He was an open book,” Buckner said. “He admitted it. He admitted everything.”
Rowold, dressed in a blue button-up shirt, sat quietly as the verdict was read.
The case began in July 2024, when Rowold vandalized and twice set fire to the church in Wiggins. Police testified during the trial that Rowold told investigators it “brought him joy” to cause the destruction, and that, when the building did not burn down the first time, he tried again.
Testimony during the trial also showed Rowold, who was homeless, told investigators he hated the LDS church and spray-painted slurs such as “Child Molesters,” “Cowards,” and “False Prophets” on the walls. He also said he received an “epiphany from God” long after his own conviction for child molestation, which made him a registered sex offender.
“This is not a whodunit case,” Buckner said during closing arguments. “He did it.”
‘They got their confession’
Rowold’s attorney, Leilani Tynes, framed his confession as only one piece of evidence. She also raised questions about how thoroughly and properly law enforcement had acted.
“They got their confession and that was the end of their investigation,” she said.
The jury on Wednesday returned guilty verdicts on two counts each of arson, damaging of religious property and use of fire to commit a felony.
During the trial, jurors reviewed recordings, transcripts and other evidence that showed Rowold told investigators he used a cinder block to smash through a back door during the break-ins. He also piled hymnals, copies of the Book of Mormon, and religious paintings in the multipurpose building and set them on fire.
He returned to the church two days after the first fire. 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 church was badly damaged and did not reopen until February.
In addition to his federal conviction on Wednesday, 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.
