Suspect arrested in 1997 Oregon slaughterhouse arson

Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, January 18, 2006

GRANTS PASS, Ore. – Federal agents investigating a string of Northwest arsons claimed by the radical groups Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front have arrested one new suspect and are seeking a second, authorities said Wednesday.

Criminal complaints filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Eugene name the first suspect in the 1997 arson of a horse slaughterhouse in Redmond, Ore., for which ALF claimed responsibility, and another person accused of torching the offices of the Superior Lumber Co. in Glendale, now known as Swanson Group, in 2001, for which the ELF said it was responsible.

Jonathan Mark Christopher Paul, 39, was arrested in Ashland on charges he helped firebomb the Cavel West horsemeat packing plant in Redmond on July 21, 1997, along with an unnamed woman, said Diane Peterson, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Portland.

An arraignment set for Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Medford was postponed. If convicted on the arson charges, he could be sentenced to 20 years in prison and fined $250,000.

Suzanne Nicole “India” Savoie, 28, of Applegate remained at large, Peterson said. She was charged with serving as a lookout for the Jan. 2, 2001, firebombing of Superior Lumber Co. offices in Glendale. She also faces 20 years and a $250,000 fine if caught and convicted.

The two new suspects bring to nine the number of people charged in a series of arsons from 1996 to 2001 in Oregon and Washington. The arsons include two lumber mill offices, a tree farm, an SUV dealer and two federal research labs.

Authorities have also linked two of the earlier suspects to a fire at a Vail, Colo., ski resort, but no one has been charged in that arson. Of the seven, four are being held without bail, one is free on bail, one committed suicide in jail, and one remains a fugitive.

According to an affidavit from FBI Special Agent Paul Caldwell Jr., an unidentified informant involved in the horsemeat packing plant fire told investigators that Paul and an unidentified woman set the blaze using 5-gallon plastic buckets filled with a mix of gasoline, diesel fuel and soap that were ignited by an electronic timer.

The buckets have been a signature of ELF and ALF fires.

Paul prepared the fuel mix, adding soap shavings so it would form a gel and burn more slowly, the affidavit said. He did a dry-run a week before. The night of the fire, one of the buckets went off unexpectedly, igniting a fireball, and two didn’t ignite, according to the affidavit.

ALF claimed responsibility for the fire. It caused an estimated $1 million in damage, but 100 horses in nearby corrals survived. The communique from ALF said the arsonists also poured hydrochloric acid in air conditioning vents to taint any meat that survived the fire.

Cavel has been criticized by animal-rights groups for slaughtering wild horses rounded up from U.S. Bureau of Land Management lands in the West. The Belgian-owned company never rebuilt the Redmond plant, but continues to operate one in DeKalb, Ill.

“It’s long overdue,” James Tucker, general manager of the Cavel International Inc. plant in DeKalb, said of the arrest. “From my readings of other ALF activities, they don’t seem to have any qualms about taking illegal action to make their point.”