RIVERSIDE, Ala. (AP) - An Alabama pastor indicted in connection to a fire at his church has died the night before a hearing in the case.
News outlets report an attorney for 50-year-old Ricky Van Mitchell says the Riverside pastor had a heart attack Monday night. Tommy Spina says his client died at a hospital in Birmingham.
Mitchell and his wife, 46-year-old Angela Mitchell, were charged with arson, criminal conspiracy and insurance fraud in the Jan. 12 fire. Forty-five-year-old Heather Whitten was also charged with arson and criminal conspiracy.
AL.com reports a St. Clair County judge ordered a funeral home to preserve Mitchell’s body. Prosecutors filed a motion citing unusual circumstances in the death. Spina filed a motion to dismiss the case.
The pastor had been scheduled for a bond revocation hearing Tuesday morning.
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