Outside the 'South': 'The Waster' questioned by authorities over eerie letters sent
By Leada Gore | lgore@al.com AL.com /storypackage /#article_inset Article
A letter from someone calling himself "The Waster" has been sent to as many 50 churches in Tennessee and Georgia. (Contributed photo/Ocoee Baptist Church)
Police said they have questioned a man they believe called himself "The Waster" in a series of eerie letters sent to Southern churches in recent weeks.
NBC News reported the man was questioned by authorities in Tennessee. The man, identified by photographs taken as he left McMinn, Tennessee, said the letters were an expression of his religious beliefs.
He has not been identified because he has not been charged with any crime and officials maintain there is no criminal investigation underway. Authorities said the letters do not contain any specific threats.
The letters were hand-delivered to as many as 50 churches in Tennessee and Georgia in recent weeks. The photocopied, handwritten letters, signed by someone who called to himself as "The Waster," criticized "preachers, ministers, and chaplains" for failing to teach the Bible.
"Here is a Cold Hard Truth! Because the Judeo-Christian religions of your world only taught ten commandments they damned all their members who died to Hell!" the letters said. "Why are their hearts far from the first begotten Son of God? You preachers, ministers, and chaplains did not teach them all the commandments."
The letters include a verse, Isaiah 54:16-17, which includes reference to "the waster."
Authorities said they are continuing to monitor the situation.