A bond hearing was held here Monday afternoon for the two 18-year-old suspects who were arrested last week and charged with destroying by arson a former tobacco warehouse on South Main Street early Thursday morning.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Dennis Inman turned down a request for bond for Matthew Rose to allow his release before trial during a detention hearing in the U.S. District Court here.

However, Judge Inman set a $20,000 unsecured bond for Jory Ramirez at a detention hearing Monday, paving the way for his pre-trial release. However, Ramirez was not immediately released.

Greeneville Police Department Detective Lt. Ray Allen Jr. and parents of the two suspects took the stand in federal court on Monday as defense and prosecuting attorneys questioned them and laid out their cases for Inman to grant -- or deny -- bond to each of the suspects.

Ramirez was granted the $20,000 bond and pre-trial release to his mother, with several strict conditions, including confinement to his home from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., an electronic monitor bracelet and travel restricted to within Greeneville's limits.

Nikki Pierce, a federal public defender, served as Rose's attorney. Ramirez's attorney was Louis Ricker, a private attorney appointed by the federal court.

Inman said Ramirez would have to stay in the Greene County Detention Center at least a few more days until his mother, Roxanne Ramirez, gets a land phone line installed in her home that is needed as part of an electronic bracelet system for her son.

She said she had already ordered a phone line in hopes of being a third-party custodian of her son.

Going To Grand Jury

Robert Reeves, an assistant U.S. attorney who is prosecuting the case, said he would present the cases to a federal grand jury on Aug. 12.

Their arraignment is scheduled for Aug. 15 before Judge Inman.

GPD Detective Lt. Allen took the witness stand first at Monday's two-and-one-half long detention hearing.

In a series of over one dozen photographs scanned into computers and visible on individual computer screens for Allen, Inman and others in the courtroom to view, Allen identified several photos of the fire blazing at the Bernard No. 2 Warehouse at the corner of South Main and McKee streets, as well as damage to a sign on the Andrew Johnson Homestead, a national historic site adjacent to the warehouse.

Allen identified the residence of Rose at 107 York Drive and a blue pickup truck in the driveway that he said both suspects admitted they drove in the night they allegedly searched for a structure to burn.

Allen identified other photos, including a large inverted cross over the doorway to Rose's bedroom. Black plastic covered the windows in the room to keep the light out, according to Allen.

One photo, taken one hour before the fire was believed to have been set at the warehouse, according to a date stamp on the photo, showed Rose holding a Molotov cocktail and "flipping a bird" in the direction of the cameraman.

The date and time on that photo was "July 31, 12:58 a.m." The photo was found on Ramirezes' cell phone, according to Reeves.

Signs of satanic worship and drug use, including marijuana seeds, rolling papers, marijuana residue and a ceramic pipe Allen said was commonly used to smoke marijuana, were identified by Allen and said to be in Rose's bedroom.

Those satanic signs included a puppet with a stark, "Gothic" face straddling an inverted cross, statues of angels with pale "Gothic" faces, a Bible with a dagger stuck through it, a pentagram symbol on one of the angel's arms, and granite markers, tombstones and clay pots, or urns, apparently taken from a local cemetery.

Allen said one granite cemetery marker had originally been inscribed with the words, "We miss you," but someone had written the letters "r" and "money" next to it so that it read: "We miss your money."

Also shown on the computer screens were photos of two hand-written notes signed individually by Rose and Ramirez where they allegedly confessed to the arson crimes.

Over one dozen people who were apparently relatives or friends of Rose sat in the courtroom's public seating area and watched the proceedings.

They included Paul and Karen Rose, parents of Matthew Rose.

Paul Rose took the witness stand and described three years abroad as a missionary with his family, including Matthew Rose, in Russia and Greece.

When asked if he had ever seen his son act violently, Paul Rose replied, "Absolutely not.

"Matthew was the type of kid that if he saw (another kid) on the outside" of a social group of people, apparently left out, "he'd befriend them. He felt bad when someone was marginalized," Rose said.

Paul Rose also said that in Moscow, whenever Matthew saw a homeless person, he would give that person money "when he could."

Paul Rose said he and his family returned to Greeneville in July 2007, and that Matthew and his sister enrolled in the fall at Greeneville High School.

Paul Rose said he and his wife, a receptionist at Towering Oaks Baptist Church and administrative assistant to its pastors, decided to home-school Matthew in part because Matthew "was not fitting in (socially at GHS), and his grades were not doing well."

Paul Rose also recalled his son telling him that, compared to his experience in Athens, Greece, "he (Matthew) said he didn't have the acceptance here (in Greeneville by his peers) as compared to Athens."

Paul Rose said his son lacked only one class to graduate his homeschool group. "We already have the curriculum at home," he said.

Under questioning by Reeves, Paul Rose said his son moved from the faily's home "four or five" months ago to live in a house at 107 York Drive, but occasionally returned to his parents' house for meals and to take a shower.

Paul Rose argued that being at home prior to the trial would be the best "rehabilitative" opportunity for his son, instead of sitting locked up "in jail with other criminals."

"My son is facing a federal felony. He knows he's made a mistake," Paul Rose said.

Roxanne Ramirez, mother of Jory Ramirez, also took the witness stand. She said she lived on Cypress Street with her son, Jory, and two dogs.

She said she married, then divorced, Jeffrey Ward, who sat next to her in the public seating area when she was not on the witness stand.

She said both she and Jory were born in San Antonio, Texas, and had lived in Tennessee since 1982.

She said her son was a senior at Greeneville High School.

She was shown photos of Jory's bedroom, which included Japanese animation cartoons and posters of the Nashville professional hockey team, the Predators, and the movie, "Lord of the Rings."

When asked, she said there were no satanic symbols or material in his bedroom, and she was not aware of any alcohol or drug use by her son. She said his son's girlfriend was a lead singer in a choir at her church.

Both Rose and Ramirez said their sons had never before been arrested for crimes.

When Reeves asked Ramirez if she had noticed a change in her son since "he started hanging out with Rose," she answered, "No."

In concluding his remarks, Reeves argued before Judge Inman that, "Jory (Ramirez) doesn't have all the signs of danger ... but Mr. Rose needs to be detained as a danger to the community and a danger to himself."

Before announcing Rose would be denied an opportunity to be out on bond, and Ramirez being given that opportunity, Judge Inman said of last week's arson, "This was ... a mindless act solely for the sake of destruction."

He said "if another group" had committed the arson crime, it could have been construed as "an act of a terrorist." He said people, including firefighters who fought the blaze, were endangered and "could have been killed."

Inman addressed Ramirez directly and said that by his allowing the man's pre-trial release, "You're getting your only one bite of the apple -- no second chances."

He emphasized that Ramirez must not be involved in any other crimes before his trial or he would be sent immediately to jail again with considerably longer, and mandatory, incarceration.