Murray Church Arsonist In More Trouble

The Merritt man who pleaded guiltly to three counts of arson including the fire that gutted the historic Murray Church is once again in trouble with the law.

August David Caprian has been arrested after allegedly breaching his Conditional Sentence Order (CSO) twice in a week.

On July 23, Caprian pleaded guilty to 3-counts of arson and 1 count of break and enter with intent, stemming a series of church arsons  in the Nicola Valley in January 2019. Mr. Caprian received a 24-month Conditional Sentence Order. Part of his CSO conditions were 24 hour house arrest and not to consume alcohol or drugs unless prescribed.

On August 20, two RCMP officers patrolling the fire evacuation zones in Lower Nicola, came across an intoxicated male on a bicycle riding without a helmet. The male was identified as  Caprian. He was subsequently arrested for breaching his CSO conditions. Mr. Caprian was released from custody and later an unendorsed warrant was issued for his arrest.

On August 26, a Merritt RCMP officer attended Mr. Caprian’s residence to arrest him on his outstanding warrant. Mr. Caprian was not home and again found to be breaching his CSO conditions. He was later located and arrested by the officer at a different residence.

The matter is currently before the Courts  to fix a date for a CSO hearing regarding the allegations.