HILL COUNTY, Texas (KXXV) — A plan to make easy and quick cash ended with two volunteer firefighters behind bars in Hill County.
The story takes place off FM 2604 in Hill County centering around a criminal investigation of a home burglary and arson case from June involving 19-year-old Justin Moore and 21-year-old Robert Vieregge. Both charged in the case.
That home belonged to a nearby family member of one of the firefighters charged, but they were out of town at the time of the incident.
A total of 21 guns were stolen from the home.
Robert White, criminal investigator with the Hill County Sheriff’s Office says the case didn’t generate a lot of leads initially but breaks in the case came when —
- One of the stolen guns, a rifle, surfaced because of a questionable gun trade with Moor
- Around the same time, Vieregge ended up in the hospital after being accidentally shot in the leg by Moore with one of the stolen guns
From there, questions and new life was brought back into the case — Vieregge actually turned himself in to authorities.
"They both gave full confessions of burglarizing the home," White said.
Reports show Moore's bonds totaled $515,000 on the burglary and arson charges and Vieregge's bond was set at $15,000 on the burglary charge.
Moore and Vieregge both initially bonded out on their initial burglary charges however Moore was arrested last week and charged with arson.
“Then obviously after we got the confession for arson, the state fire marshal generated an arrest warrant for Justin for that charge and he’s still currently in jail," White said.
Both of the two men helped investigators recover most of the guns.
“From my understanding, both of them were both unemployed — they were young kids hurting for money," White said.
"Both of them have showed a whole lot of remorse from this.”
Investigator White says their side of the investigation is complete and now the case moves forwards to prosecution.
