COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – Two men have been formally charged in connection with the vandalism at the Oak Grove North Cemetery in early March 2018.
19-year-old William Vanness is being held on a $350,000 bond on charges of Malicious Destruction of Tombs and Memorials over $20,000 as well as a charge of conspiracy to commit Malicious Destruction of Tombs and Memorials over $20,000.
Vanness was in the Branch County Jail on a probation violation when the cemetery vandalism charges were filed.
20-year-old Christopher Palmerton Junior turned himself in Thursday at the Branch County Jail on the same charges.
A third suspect is being sought by Coldwater Police who say citizen involvement and tips helped crack the case.
Over 100 memorials, monuments and gravestones in the cemetery on the west side of the city along U.S. 12 were damaged or destroyed sometime between the afternoon of Tuesday, March 6 and Wednesday afternoon March 7, 2018.
