Image Credit: Facebook / Pam Taylor

By Aaron Schulze

Arson Case

Merritt man guilty of burning Murray Church arrested after allegedly breaching conditional sentence

Aug 30, 2021 | 3:08 PM

MERRITT — A Merritt man who pleaded guilty to arson related to the Murray Church’s burning, was arrested after allegedly breaching his Conditional Sentence Order (CSO) twice in a week.

On August 20, Merritt RCMP say two officers who were patrolling the fire evacuation zones in Lower Nicola came across an intoxicated man riding a bicycle without a helmet. The man was identified as August Caprian, who was arrested for breaching CSO conditions and later released from custody.

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

Caprian appeared before courts on August 27 and was released on an undertaking to abide by his CSO conditions. A date has not been set to deal with the breach allegations.

Caprian pleaded guilty in July 2021 to three counts of arson and one count of break and enter with intent. The charges stem from a series of church arsons that occurred in the Nicola Valley in January 2019.

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Caprian received a two-year Conditional Sentence Order, with the conditions being 24-hour house arrest and not being able to consume alcohol or drugs unless prescribed.