Two former Baptist youth suspected in church arsons

TYLER, Texas — Two young men suspected of setting 10 eastern Texas churches on fire were active in the youth group of a Southern Baptist congregation before drifting away from church after the mother of one of them died three years ago.

David McAllister, father of 21-year-old Daniel George McAllister, one of two men arrested Feb. 21 on an arson charge, told the Tyler Morning Telegraph he had struggled with keeping his son on the right track since his wife, who home-schooled the boy and kept him active in First Baptist Church, Ben Wheeler, Texas, died from a heart attack and stroke.

Carlton Young, pastor of the Baptist General Convention of Texas church for 15 years, remembered Wanda McAllister as the “spiritual anchor” of the family. “I knew her death affected him tremendously, but I hadn’t seen him enough since his mother died to know how much,” Young told the Tyler newspaper. “It was a really traumatic experience for their family.”

Young said neither McAllister nor the other suspect, 19-year-old Jason Robert Bourque, had attended the church for a year and a half. He said their attendance fell off after McAllister’s mother died and Bourque’s family moved from Ben Wheeler, a town of 600 east of Dallas, to Lindale, about 20 miles away.

Police arrested Bourque in Van Zandt County and McAllister in San Antonio. Both arrests were without incident and both suspects were taken to Smith County to face charges of arson in the Feb. 8 blaze that destroyed Dover Baptist Church, Tyler.

Authorities believe the duo is responsible for 10 church fires set between Jan. 1 and Feb. 8 in four eastern Texas communities. They also are suspected in three attempted church break-ins during the rash of arsons. Additional charges are expected to be filed.