Idaho Man Sentenced for Burning Churches

GEM COUNTY, Idaho (AP) — A man convicted of burning down two churches has been sentenced to 85 years to life in prison. The Idaho Press-Tribune reports Bradley Thomasson was sentenced Monday after a jury convicted the Emmett resident in March of the arson of the Community Bible Church and First Baptist Church in April 2013.

Thomasson was 41 at the time of the crime. Both churches had been significantly damaged by water, smoke and heat. Damage costs totaled more than $2 million. No one had been injured in the incidents.

According to the Lewiston Tribune, Thomasson was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison in 1990 for the murder of his adoptive parents. He had been 17 when he shot 50-year-old Judith Thomasson and 57-year-old Ray Thomasson.