Man Who Once Worked At MU’s Nuclear Reactor Is Charged In Planned Parenthood Fire
Man Who Once Worked At MU’s Nuclear Reactor Is Charged In Planned Parenthood Fire
By DAN MARGOLIES • 5 HOURS AGO
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Wesley Brian Kaster, 42, was accused of one count of maliciously damaging, by means of fire or an explosive, a building owned by an organization that receives federal funding.
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Court records uncovered by KCUR reveal that Kaster filed for bankruptcy in April 2014, listing assets of about $148,000 and liabilities of nearly $169,000. At the time, he was a senior reactor operator at the University of Missouri Research Reactor, the nation’s largest university-run research reactor, and had worked there for five-and-a-half years, according to court records.
Christian Basi, a spokesman for the university, confirmed that Kaster worked at the reactor from December 2008 until August 2016. He said he was unable to provide further information about Kaster's employment, citing university policy regarding employees.
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Kaster currently works as a floor supervisor in the welding shop of a light manufacturing business in Jefferson City, according to a probable cause affidavit filed by FBI Special Agent Curtis J. Bryant.
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. . . investigators searched social media accounts associated with Kaster and found a picture posted to the Facebook page of his wife depicting a handgun with the words, “Guns Don’t Kill People, Planned Parenthood Kills People.”
Other items of evidence collected at Kaster’s home on Saturday definitively tied him to the crime scene, Bryant’s affidavit states.
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The FBI had offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever set the fire. The bureau said it was investigating the fire as a hate crime.
Prosecutors have asked the court to order Kaster detained in jail pending trial, saying he poses a danger to the community and is a flight risk. The court has scheduled a hearing on March 7.
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Bryant’s affidavit provides these additional details:
Surveillance video showed the suspect at around 2:30 a.m. parking a Toyota Sienna minivan missing a right front hubcap. He broke the glass front door, placed a bucket inside and threw a Molotov cocktail-type device inside.
The suspect stood outside for a while, then entered the building through the broken door. After two unidentified pedestrians approached, he fled, then drove his vehicle away.
He returned around 4 a.m., walking to the front door with “an undiscernible item.” At 4:03 a.m., smoke began billowing through the broken door and he fled again.
The fire department received the fire alarm at the building around 4:05 a.m. Evidence collected by firefighters included two five-gallon buckets, one lying inside the other, containing gasoline. They also recovered the remains of a Molotov cocktail.
Investigators identified Kaster after combing through vehicle registration records and records from Lowe’s of recent purchases of five-gallon buckets. Surveillance videos from Lowe’s purchase captured Kaster’s face and physical features.
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