Library Executive Director Annie Busch said in the May 11 Springfield News-Leader that the arson was a “particularly unusual case” that was not done in anger against the library or its staff. Rupp told investigators that he set fire to the library in an attempt to destroy a library computer on which he posted chat-room messages that referred to a previous arson.
Busch said the library recently finished replacing more than 10,000 water- and flame-damaged volumes. Springfield attorney Jerry Reynolds told the News-Leader, “Even if there is no recovery at all, [the lawsuit] shows how serious it is when someone takes public property and intentionally destroys it like that.”
Posted May 13, 2005.