A Coronation man has pleaded guilty to burning down a local church in 2023.
Nickolas Guy Fortier pleaded guilty to arson in Red Deer Court of Justice on Friday morning.
Justice John Holmes ordered that Fortier undergo a psychiatric assessment before sentencing. Typically, it takes several months to complete the assessments and a sentencing date has not yet been set.
RCMP said they got a 911 call about 1 p.m. on Sept. 5, 2023 that Evangelical Free Church was on fire.
Police say witness accounts and video led them to Fortier, who went to the church earlier that day carrying a jerry can of gasoline. Around noon, Fortier was seen returning to the church. He left soon after just before the fire was reported. The church was completely destroyed in the blaze.
Two days later, RCMP announced Fortier, then 23, had been arrested and charged with arson and mischief over $5,000.
An agreed statement of facts said Fortier admitted to torching the church. While being arrested, he told officers he was the apocalypse and Jesus reincarnated.
He also sent other bizarre religious-themed messages through Snapchat in which he referred to himself as a "modern day Jesus" and said that he had "beat God at his own game."
Following the guilty plea, the Crown prosecutor said the mischief charge will be withdrawn.
