A Clay County man has been charged after troopers said he admitted to setting a church on fire. 78-year old William Stephenson of Hartland is charged with first-degree arson, according to a criminal complaint filed in Clay County Magistrate Court.
Troopers were dispatched to Sycamore Street in Clay about an arson report. Stephenson’s ex-wife said “he was going to burn the church down,” and saw her husband walking back toward the home with smoke coming from the nearby “old Hartland Church.” WCHS TV said firefighters were able to put the fire out but said there was major damage to the building. Stephenson is being held at the Central Regional Jail.