Aspiring evangelist charged in vandalism of church statues

A vandal cut a destructive path across Camden and Burlington counties over several days in July, heavily damaging dozens of religious statues at nine Catholic churches.

Many religious pieces of art in Cherry Hill, Marlton and Mount Laurel were knocked over or struck with an object, possibly a baseball bat, police said.

Then, the vandalism spree stopped abruptly after news media reports included eyewitness descriptions of a suspect and a car at a Marlton church.

On Wednesday, Curtis Condell, 41, of Magnolia, was arrested during a meeting with authorities, Evesham Township Police Lt. Walt Miller said.

Condell, a drywall construction worker, has been charged with nine counts of criminal mischief and nine counts of bias intimidation, police said.

He was held on at least $100,000 bail at the Burlington County Jail. That bail may be increased with the addition of Cherry Hill's charges, police officials said.

On his Facebook page, Condell described himself as "a born-again believer in the Lord Jesus Christ since my childhood (thank you Dad and Mom!)" and said he was "now working my way toward serving Christ as an evangelist."

On Thursday, his wife, Belinda Condell, denied that Curtis had damaged the statues and said she and Curtis are devout Christians who have attended Catholic festivals.

"There is no way he could have done this," she said. "He gets up early in the morning to work, then he's with me and our daughter."

Belinda Condell said her husband was concerned - when he learned that he was considered a suspect - that police officers would come to their home and lead him from the house in handcuffs.

"He didn't want Christianity to look bad," so he went to police to resolve the issue, she said. "He told them he really didn't do it."

Lt. Miller declined to identify a motive for the vandalism, adding only that "that is part of the investigation."

Police got a break in the case after an alert resident - familiar with the news reports and eyewitness descriptions of the suspect and car - contacted them with information that led to the identity of the suspect.

The vandalism began in Cherry Hill, where St. Thomas More Church in the 1400 block of Springdale Road was one of the first churches struck, between July 11 and July 12, police said. An eight-foot Italian marble statue of Mary was knocked over and broken in three pieces.

The vandal returned to St. Thomas More late July 14, or early July 15 to damage more statues, authorities said.

A statue of Mary and the infant Jesus at Queen of Heaven Church, 700 W. Marlton Pike, Cherry Hill, also was shattered late July 11, or early July 12, police said. The figures stood about five feet tall, police said. The heads were knocked off.

During the same period, a vandal hit Holy Eucharist Catholic Church in the 300 block of Kresson Road in Cherry Hill, where a statue of Mary was damaged.

The vandal struck again between July 14, and July 15, knocking over a statue of Mary, investigators said.

In another incident around July 15, a statue of Mary was damaged at the Catholic Church of St. Mary in the 2000 block of Springdale Road in Cherry Hill. The statue's hands were knocked off, police said.

In Evesham Township, two statues were damaged at the St. Joan of Arc Church on Willowbend Road in Marlton on July 14.

The vandalism spread during the same time to Mount Laurel in Burlington County, where 33 statues in a grotto were damaged at St. John Neumann Church in the 500 block of Walton Avenue. The hands of some of the figures were knocked off, police said.