Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 7, 1990 TAG: 9006070117
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RON BROWN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Ronald L. Shell, agent in charge of the agency's Richmond division, said John Randall Todd also may have made threats against other officials the agency protects.
Shell said the Secret Service began investigating Todd shortly after he was arrested May 9. He would not offer any further specifics of the investigation, but said it was continuing.
Todd, a 24-year-old apostle of an Egyptian religion, was committed to Central State Hospital in Petersburg for a 90-day mental evaluation after he tried to hang himself with shoelaces in Rockbridge County Jail shortly after his arrest.
He was unhurt because the shoelaces pulled loose from an air vent because of his weight.
Todd told authorities he set fire to Vesuvius Baptist Church and Mount Carmel Presbyterian Church in Steeles Tavern as a sacrifice to the ancient Egyptian god Osiris.
Ancient Egyptians believed Osiris was the chief god of the underworld and prince of the dead. He ruled the underworld of the tomb, which was populated by the souls of the dead.
The ancient Egyptians believed that when they died, they became Osiris.
Todd was arrested after Botetourt County authorities caught him inside Camp Bethel Church of the Brethren on Virginia 640.
Todd also is wanted by authorities in Dallas in connection with a fire that caused about $10,000 damage to the funeral home where he had worked for three months.
Todd, a native of Tyler, Texas, was convicted of burglary in Collin County, Texas, in December 1987 and was placed on supervised probation for 10 years, said Devonia Sheaffer, unit supervisor with the Collin County Supervision and Corrections Department.
by CNB