2 more suspects in arson arrested

Washington Times ^ | Tuesday, December 21, 2004 | By Matthew Cella

[JohnHuang2]

Federal authorities yesterday arrested the fifth and sixth suspects in a massive arson case in Charles County, Md., this month, and law-enforcement sources said other arrests -- stemming from interviews with as many as 16 "acquaintances" -- are likely.
    The U.S. Attorney's Office said Roy McCann, 22, of Waldorf, Md., and Michael Gilbert, 21, of Fort Washington were arrested yesterday and will be brought before a magistrate in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt today.
    Authorities have yet to reveal a motive in the Dec. 6 arson that destroyed or damaged 26 unoccupied houses at the upscale Hunters Brooke development in Indian Head.
    Three suspects who had been arrested Saturday were arraigned yesterday at the federal court.
    Federal Magistrate Judge Charles B. Day yesterday set detention hearings on Thursday for Michael McIntosh Everhart of Waldorf, Patrick Stephen Walsh of Fort Washington and Jeremy Daniel Parady of Accokeek. The 20-year-olds were ordered to be held without bail until their next court appearances.
    They join Aaron Lee Speed, 21, of Waldorf, who was arrested last week and is scheduled for a detention hearing today. Mr. Speed, a security guard who worked for the company hired to protect the construction site, has admitted knowing of a plot to set fire to the houses, which caused $10 million in damage, according to court documents.
    Mr. Speed also said he was at the site while the fires were being set with a friend named "J.D. Purdy," whom investigators later identified as Mr. Parady.
    The court documents do not say how the defendants knew each other, referring to them only as "acquaintances."