Following his July 23 arrest, Harrison David Burrows, 18, admitted to FBI agents that he was responsible for a July 8 arson at an animal sciences facility on the campus of Brigham Young University.
The Desert Morning News reported,
According to charging documents, Burrows told an FBI agent he and another man entered BYU’s Ellsworth Farm in the early morning hours of July 8 carrying several plastic containers of combustible fuel. Burrows said he poured the fuel on large cardboard bales in a recycling area of the farm, documents state, and then lit the materials with a match.
Burrows also allegedly told investigators he called a local television station and claimed responsibility in the name of ALF.
Burrows was charged with destruction of property by fire and use of a destructive device during the commission of a crime which could earn him a minimum of 35 years in jail if he’s convicted on both counts.
Burrows was caught through the oldest cliche in the book — he returned to the scene of the crime with his roommate to watch the fire that he had just set. A BYU police officer questioned him and Burrows gave him his birth date and address. Two weeks later, police searched the address and found tools that had been taken from the animal facility.
Source:
Activists admit setting BYU fire. Angie Welling, Deseret Morning News, July 27, 2004.