El Dorado Springs man charged with arson in several fires

EL DORADO SPRINGS, Mo. – A man from El Dorado Springs has been charged after he admitted to committing a string of arsons in the town.

Kenneth Wayne Johnson Jr. admitted to setting fire to three different buildings between February 21, 2024, and March 27, 2024.

Johnson told authorities with the El Dorado Springs Police Department that he had entered each of the homes with a lighter, intending to burn them down. In one of the homes, he set fire to a mattress. In another, he lit papers on fire. In another, he set fire to an old shirt.

He said that he set the fire in one of the homes because his friend had lost the home due to a tax sale.

At least one of the homes was totally destroyed by the fire.

Johnson is charged with three counts of 2nd-degree arson and three counts of 2nd-degree burglary. He is being held at the Cedar County Jail on a $40,000 cash-only bond.

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