NEW YORK _ The Catholic man arrested after lugging two gas-filled canisters into St. Patrick's Cathedral concocted a twisted plot to burn the landmark New York house of worship to the ground, a Manhattan prosecutor charged Wednesday.
Mark Lamparello, wearing a blue hospital gown for his video arraignment from Bellevue Hospital, seemed a bit spaced out as Assistant District Attorney David Stuart revealed the suspect "spent considerable time planning and surveilling the location" _ including a stop at St. Patrick's one day before his arrest.
The prosecutor also revealed that Lamparello booked a hotel room just 20 minutes from the Vatican along with his one-way plane ticket to Rome for the day after his arrest. The suspect spent an hour outside St. Patrick's before finally heading inside with arson on his mind on the night of his bust, he added.
A cathedral employee told police the smell of gasoline was strong, and a bit of fuel spilled from one of the cans when he stopped Lamparello.
Lamparello's "plan and intent on the night of April 17 was burn down St. Patrick's Cathedral," Stuart charged. The church was open and there were a number of people inside when Lamparello arrived shortly before 8 p.m., according to a criminal complaint.
The defendant, who was also carrying a black bag holding two containers of lighter fluid, was officially charged with attempted arson and reckless endangerment.
Defense attorney Christopher DiLorenzo reserved making a bail application pending further psychiatric evaluation of his client.
Lamparello, 37, of Hasbrouck Heights, N.J., was arrested on the sidewalk outside after he left the cathedral carrying the two gas cans and a pair of butane lighters.
The defendant marched into St. Patrick's two days after he was arrested inside the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark, N.J., after refusing to leave the house of worship.
Lamparello, a candidate for his Ph.D. in philosophy, worked as an adjunct lecturer at Lehman College and held teaching positions at Brooklyn College and Seton Hall University. He lived with his elderly parents in their Bergen County home.
