Serial LA Church Arsonist Set Fires For His Black Metal Rep

You may have heard that a recent string of church fires in Louisiana was linked back to one person.  That person is Holden James Matthews, the 21-year-old son of a sheriff's deputy in St. Laundry Parish.

Mr Matthews has now plead guilty to burning down 3 historically African American churches over the course of 10 days.  His reason?  According to ABC, he wanted to "raise his profile in the 'Black Metal' music community."

On Monday, Holden switched his plea from not guilty to guilty during a federal court hearing in Lafayette.   Officially, he was charged with charged with three counts of using fire to commit a felony and three counts of intentional damage to religious property.  The intentional fires constitute a federal hate crime.

According to the report, the 21 year-old also admitted to taking and posting pictures and video footage on Facebook of the first two church burnings in in order to promote himself in the Black Metal community.

Matthews will now move to the sentencing phase of his trial, which is set for May 22.  He is facing a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, and a statutory maximum sentence of 70 years in prison.