A prosecution witness stated Thomas Gleason admitted burning down the Macedonia Church of God in Christ, casting doubt on Gleason's account.
Thomas Gleason, seen here at a 2009 court appearance, is scheduled to testify Monday in the Macedonia Church arson case.SPRINGFIELD – A prosecution witness stated Tuesday that Thomas A. Gleason admitted burning down the Macedonia Church of God in Christ, casting doubt on Gleason’s account Monday of leaving the church property before the fire started.
Testifying on the 11th day of the civil rights arson trial of Michael F. Jacques, Robert Demers, 23, of Springfield, said Gleason waited several weeks before acknowledging responsibility for the fire set hours after Barack Obama’s election in 2008.
Sitting in a parked car in Gleason’s driveway, Demers quizzed his friend about the fire and who started it, he testified in U.S. District Court.
“He said: “It was me, Ben (Haskell) and Mikey (Jacques) ... We broke a window ... poured gasoline outside, inside and down the middle of the building,” Gleason responded, according to Demers.
The three men – Gleason, Haskell and Jacques – were charged in January 2009 with burning down the church to protest the election of Obama. The future home of a largely black congregation, the Tinkham Road church was still under construction when it was razed by a gasoline-fed fire.
With Haskell and Gleason pleading guilty last year, Jacques is the only defendant asserting his innocence.
Michael JacquesAs part of a plea deal, Gleason agreed to testify for the prosecution, with the hope of reducing a potential 14-year prison sentence. Haskell, who did not cooperate, is serving a nine-year term.
Taking the witness stand Monday, Gleason said he led his two friends through the woods behind his house to the church property, but turned back when they approached the building with gasoline cans.
In the hours before the fire, the three white men gathered at Gleason’s home on Tinkham Road to drink beer, smoke marijuana and work on his truck; by midnight, they were grousing about Obama’s election and the prospects of a black church opening just down the street, Gleason testified.
Under cross-examination from defense lawyer Lori H. Levinson, Gleason said he hopes for a reduced sentence in exchange for his testimony, but has received no promises from federal prosecutors.
If he fails to tell the truth, the plea agreement is voided, Gleason said.
In cross-examining Demers later in the session, Levinson pointed out that his testimony conflicted with Gleason’s account on Monday. “He said all three of you went; he didn’t say he stood on the treeline? He included himself,” Levinson said.
“Yes,” Demers said.
Demers, a cook, also testified that Gleason called him around midnight on election night; during the conversation, Gleason said he and his friends were going to vandalize the church, and he invited Demers to join them.
After hearing about the fire the next day, Demers called Gleason and asked what happened, he testified. Gleason responded, “I know who did it, but I shouldn’t say,” Demers said.
If convicted, Jacques, 26, a former auto body shop employee, faces a minimum of 10 years in prison.
The trial is expected to take six weeks; Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul H. Smyth said the prosecution expects to rest its case Thursday.
