An unhinged arsonist admitted he torched a landmarked Bushwick church as prosecutors revealed he kept fiendish lists with categories like “kill them” and “rape him” as he plotted more fire attacks.
John Jones, 24, admitted in an interview with law enforcement Wednesday that he was responsible for the burning of the South Bushwick Reformed Church — setting off a three-alarm fire that gutted the 173-year-old historic church on June 19, according to a detention memo filed by federal prosecutors.
“The defendant admitted to committing the church arson for which he has been charged in this case,” the memo reads. “Furthermore, the defendant stated that he had recently attempted to burn down a second church in Brooklyn, New York.”
In the six-page memo, prosecutors also said that they recovered a notebook belonging to Jones, which contained a chart with several disturbing categories, including “murder them,” “kill them,” “stab them,” “make them pay,” and “rape him.”
The categories, which are depicted in the handwritten chart, include tally marks and repeated misspellings of the word “church,” according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors said that they are seeking to hold Jones without bail. He is expected to be arraigned Friday.
Jones — who was pictured disheveled and flashing an unsettling smirk in his mugshot — was charged with arson, and now faces a minimum sentence of five years in prison and a maximum of 20 years if convicted.
Authorities connected Jones to the June fire after he was caught on video trying to make his way into the church, according to the criminal complaint.
He was unsuccessful and instead went across the street and purchased a lighter from a nearby bodega — then was seen in footage returning to the side of the church before a large plume of smoke gushed out of the building, prosecutors said.
The blaze decimated the church’s historic spire, causing it to collapse — leaving much of the insides torched, including thousands of artifacts.
Cops finally caught up with the whacko on Wednesday when he was busted at a Midtown Manhattan CVS trying to shoplift a turkey sandwich, donuts and a Coke, according to sources
Jones made a brief appearance Thursday in Manhattan Criminal Court where he was arraigned on the shoplifting bust and held without bail.
