Arson Investigation Man Confesses to Setting 7 Fires in Historical Buildings

Bardstown Police say irreplaceable pieces of history were nearly ruined when a man started seven different fires in the Old Bardstown Village.

On Monday officers arrested 41-year-old Phillip Tingle who confessed to the crimes. Now the Civil War Museum in Nelson County is trying to make sure this never happens again.

“When you have this type of predator out there, it is heartbreaking,” said Robert Llewellyn who is a board member for the museum. People like him with the Civil War Museum have spent the last three months working in fear.

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“It was sickening, it was sickening to think somebody would do this, it scared me,” said Kathleen Llewellyn who is the museum’s treasurer.

“Its a treasure here, if a building burns its gone forever and that’s all there is to it, it’s our history,” said Robert.

Workers said Phillip Tingle lives near the Old Bardstown Village and broke in through the fence in during visiting hours. “We had seven separate incidents of someone trying to set fire to our historic cabins and the last one did the most damage,” said Kathleen.

On Thursday the fire spread through a display case, burning indian artifacts and the cabin’s irreplaceable wood logs. Luckily a woman driving past noticed the smoke, but the damage was done.

“We had signs and displays on this wall that were taken out, and it burned into the wall so it was just before taking the building out completely,” said Robert.

“It never occurred to me that somebody would try to damage this historic place, now I know that there are crazies out there who will do damage,” said Kathleen.

Although police were quick to make an arrest, the board for the museum decided it’s time for history to meet technology.

“We have to spend several thousands of dollars on a camera system to prevent this from happening again,” said Kathleen.

They are also having more employees do foot patrols throughout the day. Because the museum is a non-profit, all of that extra money spent on security is being taken away from preserving history. Still, while volunteers are more cautious they are relieved to see an arrest.

“I am happy this guy is off the streets, hope he stays there,” said Kathleen.

Bardstown police said Phillip Tingle has been in trouble for arson before. On Thursday he was also charged with setting a fire in February, and now faces 8 counts of Arson in the second degree.

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