Man charged in 2006 arson case

MANITOWOC - One man has been arrested and two others are suspected in connection with a six-year-old arson case in Manitowoc.

Manitowoc police have been investigating the fire at the N. 7th St. home of Matt Lemberger and his wife since March 2006. At the time of the fire, the Lembergers were vacationing in London. Racial slurs were found on two cars parked at the home; the Lembergers are an interracial couple. Police say in the wake of the fire, community members provided financial and personal help to the Lembergers.

Investigators say they made a breakthrough two months ago, when Cullen Bresnahan, a man serving time on unrelated charges at the Racine Correctional Institution, admitted that he and his brother James were involved in the arson. Cullen Breshanan claimed Matt Lemberger planned the fire. Cullen Bresnahan told authorities Lemberger promised them money for starting the fire. He also said the racial slurs on the cars were an attempt to misdirect the investigation. Bresnahan said Lemberger paid the brothers little to no money after the arson.

James Bresnahan was arrested last month in Mukwonago. He faces one charge of being party to a crime of arson. He is free after posting a $30,000 cash bond.

Neither Cullen Bresnahan nor Matt Lemberger has been formally charged in the case. They cannot be charged because the statute of limitations has expired, according to Manitowoc police. James Bresnahan was able to be charged because he has spent time living in Canada, therefore stopping the statute of limitations.

Lemberger has been connected to additional arson fires - one at another home he owned in Brown County and one at a storage warehouse he owned. In addition, Lemberger has been indicted in federal court in an alleged murder-for-hire plot.