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The mother of an accused arsonist was arrested Tuesday night and charged with obstructing the investigation against her son.
Sheila Grevenstuk, 36, of 110 E. Van Buren St., Leesburg, faces the charge of allegedly interfering with an investigation last summer against her son, Timothy.
Kosciusko County Prosecutor David Kolbe said today that the charges were not pursued last summer, but because of the ongoing circumstances involving the Grevenstuks, the charges were filed.
Michael Grevenstuk, Sheila's husband, is expected to surrender to police today and will face the same charges as his wife.
The two allegedly influenced a woman to write a letter giving Timothy and Michael an alibi when Timothy was accused of intimidating a witness.
The case began when police were investigating the arson at the Leesburg Grace Brethren Church in July 1997. Investigators questioned Timothy and later found a girl who reportedly said Timothy told her he started the fire.
The girl later told police Timothy allegedly threatened to kill her if she told police about his alleged confession.
Timothy and his family claimed he was fishing with his father at the time the alleged threats occurred. Investigators were given a letter by an employee of the Department of Natural Resources saying Timothy and Michael were fishing on Shock Lake at the time.
The employee later told police she was allegedly urged to write the letter by Michael and Sheila and could not remember if Timothy was fishing that day. She reported to police later that she was not even working at the lake that day.
Sheila and Michael are charged with allegedly intimidating the employee to write the letter and allegedly tampering with the case against Timothy.
The intimidation charges against Timothy were later dismissed without prejudice, meaning they could be refiled later.
Timothy's arson trial was declared a mistrial May 12 when a friend of Timothy allegedly threatened a daughter of a jury member. The trial was rescheduled for June 15 in Kosciusko Circuit Court.
He is currently in Kosciusko County Jail serving a sentence on two other felony convictions.
