Man charged with arson in Marion fires; FFs cleared

By Ron Maloney, The Seguin Gazette-Enterprise
Authorities have made an arrest in a string of arson fires that gutted Marion landmarks last fall, leaving gaping holes along FM 78 where prominent and historic buildings once stood. Guadalupe County Sheriff’s Investigator Sgt. Bruce Tubbs and Marion Police Chief Reed Crane booked Cody Ryan Cannon, 22, of Marion into Guadalupe County Jail on Friday afternoon on five allegations of arson.

If proved at trial, intentionally burning a building down is a second-degree felony punishable by two to 20 years in state prison and a fine of up to $10,000. Precinct 1 Justice of the Peace Darrell Hunter set bail for Cannon at $100,000.

Marion’s arson fire odyssey began with a Sept. 18 blaze that destroyed the former Don’s Auto Repair, also known by old-timers as Bielke’s service station and in much earlier days as the central Guadalupe County city’s Ford dealership. Two 14-year-old boys accepted responsibility for that blaze, but never acknowledged setting the one the following day that destroyed the former Overlander cafe, recently Blue Moon Hall Antiques, and Penshorn’s Meat Market.

Those boys were taken into custody the afternoon of that fire and neither one now lives in Guadalupe County.

The fires investigators allege Cannon set were:

• Blue Moon Hall Antiques and Penshorn’s Meat Market on Sept. 19.
• Old home on Wetz Road, Oct. 10.
• Marion’s former train depot, Oct. 24.
• El Vaquero Saloon, Nov. 14.

When Marion officials opened the investigation into the first blaze, Sheriff Arnold Zwicke, who grew up in Marion, detailed his investigators to assist Marion in investigating the case.

“We didn’t have the expertise to do it alone,” Crane said. “I’m not an arson investigator, and I didn’t know what to look for. If it wasn’t for the sheriff’s office and for everybody’s help, we wouldn’t have been able to close this case by ourselves.

Tubbs said Zwicke became convinced with the second fire that his hometown was being victimized by a serial arsonist, and ordered a full-court effort to bring him in.

Tubbs, who is the county’s arson investigator, Investigator Lt. Kevin Jordan, Investigator Scott Humphrey, Deputy State Fire Marshal Tommy Hubertus and Seguin Fire Marshal Greg Dreiss joined in on the investigation, which became even more urgent three weeks later when a suspicious fire authorities told the public was a likely accident burned down an old wood frame home off Wetz Road. In addition, Lt. Eddie Flores of the county’s joint narcotics task force detailed surveillance assets to the investigation, Tubbs said.

As it turned out, there would be other things the authorities didn’t tell the public, and those were things that only the person who set the fires could know, and Tubbs said some of those things eventually pointed to Cannon.

“He fit the profiles,” Tubbs said. The investigator declined to detail the evidence or how it was uncovered.

“The sheriff told me he believed there was a serial arsonist at work terrorizing the citizens of Marion, and he instructed me to make the fires in Marion my priority investigation,” Tubbs said. “He told me if it took overtime — and it did, we worked hard on this case — he’d find a way to pay it, and he said to do whatever we needed to do. Through months of meticulous efforts with Marion, Seguin, the state fire marshal’s office and the people I’ve mentioned, we obtained the investigative leads we needed to arrive at the probable cause we needed to obtain an arrest warrant for Cody Cannon for five counts of arson.”

Crane said the suspect was already under investigations on other allegations, and at about the time of the El Vaquero fire, indicators in the arson investigation pointed to him.

Like Tubbs, Crane declined to say what that information was. No investigator contacted for this story was able to offer a motive for the fires, either.

But another thing pointed to Cannon, as well, Crane said.

“It was funny that after we started questioning him, all the fires stopped,” Crane said.

Tubbs said he brought the information developed in the investigation to 25th Judicial District District Attorney Heather Hollub and her first assistant, Larry Bloomquist, and they “jumped on it.”

Cannon is a Marion resident who first came to the attention of local authorities in a military desertion case filed three years ago. In addition, he has other prior offenses that include vehicle burglaries, criminal trespass, criminal mischief and evidence tampering.

He first became a suspect in the fires at around the time of the El Vaquero fire, which damaged the back of the nightspot but which was saved when a Marion police officer and firefighter who had just responded to another call came onto the scene during the early morning hours.

Crane said he had to give Tubbs the real credit in closing the case.

“Bruce Tubbs was our main go-getter on this case, and he did an outstanding job on this,” Crane said. “I appreciate the sheriff for letting him put his time into this. They have a big county, and we have a small town, and I appreciate him giving us this help. We’re really relieved, and I’m sure most of the city of Marion will be relieved.”

Zwicke said he’d come to expect no less from Tubbs in his years at the sheriff’s office. He pointed out that one of the fires, on Wetz Road, was outside the Marion city limits and located in the county, and that it was clear from an investigative standpoint that all were likely connected.

“Bruce did a real good job along with everyone else who was there from the start — the fire department, the state fire marshal’s office, our several people who were involved and everyone else,” Zwicke said. “I’m glad we were able to put it together and bring that person to justice. The unfortunate thing is you can’t replace the history that’s been lost here.”

Tubbs said the investigation was a difficult one from the sense that it was his responsibility to ensure he pursued every investigative avenue. One of those avenues was the fire department that received all the media attention for extinguishing the blaze, and Tubbs acknowledged rumors in the community that perhaps someone in the Marion Fire Department was setting the blazes — rumors he was required to investigate.

When members of the fire department learned that the investigation might turn their way, they swallowed their outrage and cooperated in the investigation completely.
Fire Chief Tom Amen told City Council that he had complete confidence that nobody in his crew would commit such a crime. Every one of his firefighters volunteered to take lie detector tests, and every one of them passed.

Tubbs said he became satisfied that no one at the Marion Volunteer Fire Department had any culpability in the fires.

“That’s just a myth,” Tubbs said. “The firemen in Marion all offered to take polygraphs and were cleared and they had nothing to do with any of this. They’re just volunteers, doing their best to work for the people of Marion and do a good job.”

Amen said Saturday he thought his firemen would find it a little easier to sleep at night.

“This is outstanding,” Amen said. “This is just great. I’m relieved they’ve caught him and I’m glad this is over with.”

Marion Mayor Glenn Hild said he and Amen hoped Saturday was the beginning of a “whole bunch of good days” for Marion.

“Obviously, this is just an arrest right now, he hasn’t been proved guilty and we understand that,” Hild said. “But I know all the agencies involved in this have been working really hard to put together the information and the facts.”

Hild said he would sleep a little better too, and that he believed others in the community would as well.

But things will never be quite the same as they were before Sept. 18, he said.

“After something like this has happened to your city, there’s always an uneasiness,” Hild said. “Even if all the perpetrators are finally given justice, this has been a very traumatic thing for our community, and you just can’t help but have this in the back of your mind.”